Ex-G.I. faces death for Iraq war crimes

PADUCAH, Ky., May 12 (UPI) -- A Kentucky man may become the first person face a death penalty from a U.S. civilian court for crimes committed overseas as a soldier, prosecutors say.

Steven Green was convicted last week in U.S. District Court in Kentucky on charges of murder, rape, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the 2006 incident involving U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Prosecutors say Green and other soldiers broke into the home of an Iraqi family, raped a 14-year-old girl, killed her and her family and set the home afire, CNN reported.

The trial is in the penalty phase, and if prosecutors are successful in obtaining a death sentence for Green, he would become the first person in U.S. history executed by a civilian court for war crimes, CNN said. Green is being tried by in federal court because he quit the military before the crimes came to light, court files show.

Relatives of the slain Iraqi family testified at a hearing Monday in Paducah, Ky., saying the dead girl's brothers' lives were ruined when they came home and discovered the carnage, CNN said.

Four soldiers have reportedly been sentenced by military courts to up to 110 years in the case.