The lawyer for a U.S. Marine accused of murdering several Iraqi men argued Monday the killings were carried out by an «extremely brave» man in the heat of a battle that left 24 civilians dead according to The Associated Press. The argument came during a military court hearing to determine if Lance Cpt. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, should be court-martialed on three counts of unpremeditated murder in the biggest U.S. criminal case since the start of the Iraq war. «The forensics in this case dispel the notion that this was an execution,» Gary Myers told Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the investigating officer. «He's not a murderer. Rather, he's extremely brave.» Sharratt is charged in the shooting deaths of brothers Jasib, Kahtan and Jamal Aiad Ahmed. Myers does not dispute that his client killed the men, but has argued that the Nov. 19, 2005, killings were justified.
