PADUCAH, Ky., May 13 (UPI) -- Lawyers for a former U.S. solider facing a death sentence say the Army missed signs that Steven Green was afflicted with acute stress disorders while in Iraq.
Green is in the sentencing phase of a civilian trial in Paducah, Ky., after being found guilty of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her family while on patrol near Baghdad in 2007. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Defense attorneys, however, say the ex-G.I. should be spared execution because the Army failed to properly diagnose him as suffering from stress disorders despite clear signs the infantryman was troubled, CNN reported Wednesday.
Psychiatrist Dr. Pablo Stewart told the court a military nurse practitioner who examined Green shortly before the crimes "had the answers in front of her that clearly marks all the symptoms of acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder" but did not pull Green from combat duty, the broadcaster reported.
Instead, she allegedly prescribed sleeping pills for Green and sent him back to his post in Iraq's restive "Triangle of Death" area, CNN said.
