The judge denied a defense request for a mistrial for Staff Sgt. Shane Werst, but excused the two jurors. Because only three remained, the judge said more potential jurors would be called Tuesday.

Werst, 32, faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder and obstruction of justice in the January 2004 death of Naser Ismail, a suspected Iraqi insurgent who was unarmed when soldiers raided his house. The killing was allegedly in retaliation for an attack on a U.S. base in Balad that killed an Army captain.

When prosecutors called their first witness, 1st Lt. Jack Saville, two jurors interrupted proceedings and told the judge, Col. Theodore Dixon, that they had heard about Saville in a previous trial. The jurors are members of the military, not civilians.

The jurors served in the January case of Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins, who was convicted of assault and obstruction of justice for forcing three Iraqis into the Tigris River at gunpoint. Perkins, who was acquitted of manslaughter, was sentenced to six months in prison and was reduced one rank to staff sergeant.

Saville, who was Perkins' co-defendant, did not testify at Perkins' trial but was mentioned in other soldiers' testimony. In March, Saville pleaded guilty to assault in connection with the river incidents. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to testify against Werst about the house raids that led to Ismail's death.

At least one other witness in Werst's case also testified during the Perkins' trial.

Earlier Monday, Dixon said he would allow testimony that Werst's company commander allegedly gave an illegal order for troops to hunt down a list of suspected insurgents. But the judge said he would not allow testimony alleging that the commander said none of those Iraqis would come back alive.

Another soldier told Army investigators that Werst punched and shot Ismail, then planted a handgun on him to make the shooting appear as self-defense, according to previous court testimony.

Werst's attorneys have said the company commander, Capt. Matthew Cunningham, would testify that he never gave those orders, showing there was no premeditation.

Werst, of El Toro, Calif., was a combat engineer in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colo., part of the Fort Hood-based 4th Infantry Division.

Also Monday, an Article 32 hearing - the military counterpart of a grand jury hearing - began at Fort Knox, Ky., for Cpl. Dustin Berg, 22, of Ferdinand, Ind. He is facing a possible court-martial in the fatal shooting of an Iraqi police officer.

Berg admitted Monday that he shot the Iraqi officer, but said the November 2003 shooting was in self-defense. He said the officer aimed a gun at him in an attempt to stop him from reporting possible insurgent activity.

Military investigators have said Berg changed his story multiple times before admitting that he killed the man, then wounded himself.

The Fort Knox hearing was to address a charge of lying to investigators. A hearing officer will recommend whether Berg should be charged with murder, shooting himself, then lying about the incident.

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