Soldier Cleared in Afghan Abuse Trial

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Associated Press | November 05, 2005

FORT BLISS, Texas - A military jury cleared an Army Sergeant Friday of all charges that he abused a detainee at a U.S. detention facility in Afghanistan.

The jury deliberated for about a half-hour before acquitting Sgt. Duane M. Grubb, the third Soldier from the Cincinnati-based 377th Military Police Company to be acquitted on charges of striking and otherwise abusing detainees at the Bagram facility.

Six Soldiers from the company have been charged in an abuse investigation prompted by the deaths of two other detainees at the facility in 2002.

Grubb was accused of striking Zarif Khan, an inmate whom Soldiers allegedly mocked by calling him "Timmy," after a disabled character on the cartoon "South Park." Khan, who was released from custody and could not be located to testify, was described as mentally retarded during the court-martial.

Grubb's lawyer, Capt. Robert Fellrath, said the testimony of the government's sole eyewitness, former Spc. Jeremy Callaway, contradicted his own testimony in other cases.

Fellrath also asked the jury to question why Callaway was the only person to see the abuse when other Soldiers would have been in the area when the alleged attack occurred.

Prosecutor Capt. John B. Parker urged the jury to remember that the case was about standards, and that Grubb is accused of violating those standards.

"The bottom line is that the Army standard is not ambiguous about how you treat people," Parker said.

Grubb had been accused of assault, maltreatment and making a false official statement, but testified Thursday that he never struck Khan.

Grubb and Sgt. Alan J. Driver were accused of repeatedly using their knees to hit Khan's legs, a tactic that has been at issue in many of the abuse cases tried at Fort Bliss. Driver also is charged in the case but has not yet faced trial.

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