ASSOCIATED PRESS Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales left the courtroom at Wheeler Army Airfield yesterday after pleading not guilty to murder in the shooting death of an unarmed Iraqi last year.

Accused soldier claims harassment

Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales claims request for lawyer denied; wants his confession tossed out

A Schofield Barracks soldier says he underwent a verbal attack during an interrogation by an Army investigator about the killing of an Iraqi civilian last year.

Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales said he wants his confession thrown out because Army investigators ignored his request to speak with an attorney during the questioning.

Corrales entered a plea of not guilty yesterday to a charge of murder, ordering Spc. Christopher Shore to shoot an unarmed Iraqi detainee and planting an AK-47 rifle next to the body.

Corrales, 35, faces the maximum sentence of life without parole if convicted.

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A Schofield Barracks soldier accused of murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian last year wants his confession tossed out because Army investigators ignored his request to speak with a lawyer.

Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales' attorney, Frank Spinner, tried to show that two Army criminal investigators violated Corrales' rights by questioning him at Forward Operating Base Warrior after he asked several times for an attorney during a seven-hour interrogation -- hours after a June 23 late-night raid near Kirkuk, Iraq.

At a pretrial hearing yesterday, Corrales entered a plea of not guilty to the charges of murder, ordering Spc. Christopher Shore to shoot an unarmed Iraqi detainee and planting an AK-47 rifle next to the body. If Corrales, 35, is found guilty at his court-martial, he faces the maximum sentence of life without parole.

Two months ago, Shore was found guilty of aggravated assault. He is completing a 120-day sentence in the Ford Island brig. Corrales and Shore are assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and were in Iraq for 15 months before returning in October.

After the hearing, Spinner said Corrales' statement can be disputed because the investigators made no audio or video recording when they interviewed him.

On the witness stand, Corrales said he was first questioned by Jesse Whaley, an Army criminal investigator, on the morning of June 24 after only three hours of sleep. Later, when agent Mark Dunham took over the questioning, the session become more "confrontational" and was like a "verbal attack," Corrales said.

"He was in my face," said Corrales, noting that at times Dunham was only "six inches" from his face.

Corrales said Dunham yelled at him, "You shot him. Don't bull---- us."

Corrales said Dunham twisted his statements.

At one point, Corrales told Wright that the interrogation was like the game show "Jeopardy," where he was given the answers.

Corrales, in his statement, allegedly admitted shooting the Iraqi national but denied ordering Shore to "finish" him.

Corrales said that several times during the seven-hour interrogation, he told investigators that he wanted to consult with Army lawyers, including at one point when he was asked what role Lt. Col. Michael Browder, his battalion commander, played in the nighttime raid.

Last year an Army officer who presided over a pretrial investigation and hearing into Shore's involvement recommended that the Army examine Browder's role. That was because Corrales allegedly was considered Browder's "wrecking ball," according to testimony in Shore's court-martial.

Maj. Gary Johnson, legal officer for the 25th Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said yesterday that Army criminal investigators did look into the matter and closed the case without any charges.

Browder was relieved as commander of the 3rd Brigade's 2nd Battalion following the June 23 incident. He is stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., as deputy commander of a basic-training brigade. He has been granted immunity to testify at Corrales' court-martial.

Also called to testify will be Essa Ahmed, who served as an interpreter during the raid on the village of Al Saheed.

During Shore's court-martial In February, Ahmed submitted written testimony in which he said he was asked by Corrales to translate the word "run" in Arabic, which Corrales used several times in instructing the victim. Ahmed also wrote that he heard Corrales tell his soldiers, "I killed that mother ."