Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher has been acquitted of multiple charges including premeditated murder in connection with allegations that he stabbed a teenage Islamic State insurgent to death in Iraq.
According to AP News, Gallagher was only convicted on one of the seven counts against him.
He could face a sentence of four months behind bars for the count of posing with the Islamic State prisoner’s body in 2017, though he’s already spent longer than that in jail awaiting a verdict, as reported by USA Today.
Gallagher pleaded not guilty on all counts. Among the other charges on which he was acquitted were counts associated with two attempted murders and retaliating against fellow service members who reported the behavior.
One of those who reportedly shared Gallagher’s alleged actions with authorities was a Navy SEAL medic, Corey Scott, who said he saw the man stab the victim and then went over to the young man’s body and attempted to tend to his wounds.
That initial story changed on the witness stand, though, and Scott told the court that he actually suffocated the prisoner after the stabbing — allegedly to spare him further suffering. The new information also came after prosecutors granted him immunity in exchange for his testimony.
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[Featured image: AP Photo/Gregory Bull]
