European edition, Saturday, June 9, 2007
Army authorities are continuing to investigate the alleged bludgeoning of a German woman by a Stuttgart, Germany-based soldier over Memorial Day weekend.
The 28-year-old victim was hit over the head multiple times with a flashlight on the night of May 26 while in her home in Haupstuhl, near Landstuhl, Germany, German police said.
The woman, who was described by police as the soldier’s ex-girlfriend, was put into a coma by doctors at the German hospital where she was taken, according to Arno Heeling, a spokesman with the Kaiserslautern police department.
German police arrested the soldier several hours later. The 25-year-old was brought before a German judge, who turned him over to U.S. military authorities.
The Army on Friday declined to name the soldier or disclose his whereabouts or whether he was being detained, nor would they state the current condition of the victim. Several sources said the soldier is assigned to the 554th Military Police Company.
“It would not be appropriate to comment on specifics of the case, including naming any suspects, because it could jeopardize the suspect’s right to due process and could jeopardize the investigation,” according to a statement issued by Master Sgt. Derrick Crawford of the 21st Theater Support Command’s public affairs office.
Crawford also stated that the victim’s condition and whereabouts would not be released without permission required under U.S. and German laws.
No one has been charged in the case, according to the statement, and no legal proceedings have been scheduled.
On Friday, Heeling said German police had yielded to the Army’s investigators, who are now handling the case.
German police said that after the woman was attacked inside her home on Kaiserstrasse in Haupstuhl, the attacker left and closed the door behind him, locking it on the way out. Neighbors heard the woman’s cry for help and called police.
The Status of Forces Agreement requires that U.S. military personnel who are arrested by German police be turned over as soon as possible to U.S. authorities, according to Paul J. Conderman, chief of the foreign law branch of U.S. Army Europe’s judge advocate office.
If charges are forthcoming, an Article 32 hearing could be held to determine if the accused soldier would face court-martial.
German authorities retain the right to try a servicemember under their justice system, but that rarely happens, Conderman said. It usually only occurs in cases of particularly heinous crimes, or when there are U.S. and German co-defendants, or when German authorities are worried that the suspect would not be convicted by court-martial.
