Judge delays Iraqi rape, murder case

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4061350.html

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge on Thursday granted a three-month delay in the arraignment of a former soldier, who is charged with raping an Iraqi girl and killing her and three family members.

U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell agreed to delay the arraignment until Nov. 8 after prosecutors cited logistical concerns in Steven Green's case.

"It is unreasonable to expect that witnesses and evidence from Iraq will be available almost simultaneously to military prosecutors in Iraq and Department of Justice prosecutors in the Western District of Kentucky," according to the motion filed Wednesday.

The prosecution involves coordinated efforts of military prosecutors in Iraq, federal prosecutors in the U.S. and FBI and Army investigators.