Original Article Defense Rests in Trial of Soldier Accused of Prison Abuse By KATE ZERNIKE Published: January 13, 2005 ORT HOOD, Tex., Jan. 13 - The defense rested today in the court-martial of Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr., the Army reservist accused of being the ringleader of the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. After a morning of testimony from other soldiers who allegedly took part in mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Specialist Graner said in response to a question from the judge that he had voluntarily given up his right to testify. The judge, Col. James Pohl, dismissed the jury for the day and told them to return early Friday for closing arguments. "I feel fantastic," Specialist Graner said today as he left the courtroom. "I'm still smiling." Guy Womack, his civilian attorney, said he thought he had adequately established his defense, that Specialist Graner had been acting under orders. "We came in with a checklist of things we wanted to present to the jury," he said, "Once we accomplished that, there was no reason to continue." Specialist Graner faces 17 1/2 years in prison if convicted in the scandal, set off last year with the release of photographs of naked, hooded prisoners in sexually humiliating positions. The defense rested exactly a year to the day after another solider anonymously slipped federal investigators a disc with the photographs, out of fear, he told them the next day, that Mr. Graner would abuse more detainees. The jury consists of 10 men, all combat veterans. Under military law, a conviction requires seven members to agree, and eight or more members must agree in order to sentence him to any term greater than 10 years. Earlier today, several soldiers and a detainee testified that interrogators at Abu Ghraib gave the military police orders to "soften up" or give harsh treatment to detainees in the weeks leading up to the night that a group of soldiers photographed the prisoners in humiliating positions. The orders included instructions to leave detainees naked, to twist their arms in extreme positions behind their necks and to apply pain to sensitive parts of the body, the soldiers testified. They said the treatment became more aggressive as the weeks wore on, so much so that on one occasion the military police refused to carry it out. The testimony about orders formed the backbone of the defense that Specialist Graner's lawyers began presenting Wednesday. Specialist Graner's lawyers have consistently argued that he believed he was acting under legal orders - a viable defense under military law, even if the orders were in fact illegal - when he put the prisoners in the positions seen in the photographs. But on Wednesday, all but one of the nine witnesses called by the defense ended up, under cross-examination, undercutting part of Specialist Graner's case, telling how he beat detainees and threw pepper in their eyes, and was repeatedly reprimanded for refusing to follow what one military superior called "simple basic instructions." Master Sgt. Brian Lipinski, who had been one of Specialist Graner's superiors in the 372nd Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Maryland, testified that in November 2003, two weeks after the photographs were taken, a report given to Specialist Graner noted that a military intelligence officer "says you are doing a good job." But under questioning from the prosecution, Master Sergeant Lipinski explained that the report was written because of an incident in which he and another officer had discovered blood on the wall in the area of the prison where Specialist Graner worked, and a detainee bleeding from four head and neck wounds. Specialist Graner first said the detainee had tripped, but then admitted that he had slammed the detainee's head against the wall. So while the report started with praise, it quickly moved on to tell Specialist Graner that he needed to handle his stress and learn to follow orders. "He kept pushing the envelope," Master Sergeant Lipinski said. "The uniform, the hair, the standards, just simple instructions, simple basic instructions." He also acknowledged under questioning from the prosecution that Specialist Graner had refused repeated orders to stay away from Pfc. Lynndie R. England, his girlfriend at the time and the woman seen holding a leash around the neck of a naked Iraqi detainee in one Abu Ghraib picture. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/international/middleeast/13cnd-abus.html?hp&ex=1105678800&en=f41643aebbdd7717&ei=5094&partner=homepage