Navy Seal acquitted of murdering wounded captive in Iraq

Edward Gallagher was also charged with attempted murder in the shootings of two Iraqi civilians, and four other charges

The decorated US Navy SEAL was found not guilty of murdering a captive teenage militant in Iraq. AFP

A military jury acquitted a decorated Navy Seal of premeditated murder on Tuesday in the killing of a wounded ISIS captive under his care in Iraq in 2017.

Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was cleared of all charges except for posing for photos with the body of the captive, in a verdict that is a major blow to military prosecutors.

It took the jury less than two days of deliberations to reach its verdict.

Mr Gallagher reacted with "tears of joy, emotion, freedom and absolute euphoria", defence lawyer Marc Mukasey said.

"Suffice it to say this is a huge victory," Mr Mukasey said outside court. "It's a huge weight off the Gallaghers."

Defence lawyers said Mr Gallagher was framed by disgruntled platoon members who made up the allegations to topple their chief. They said there was no physical evidence to support the allegations.

The prosecution said Mr Gallagher's text messages and photos incriminated him. They included photos of him holding the dead militant up by the hair and clutching a knife in his other hand.

A text message Mr Gallagher sent while in Iraq said: "Got him with my hunting knife."

The prosecution said the proof of Mr Gallagher's guilt was in his own words, his own photos and the testimony of his fellow troops.

Defence lawyers called the case a mutiny by entitled junior Seals trying to get rid of a demanding chief.

They repeatedly told the jury that there was no body, no forensic evidence and no blood found on the knife.

The case gave a rare public view of a deep division in the insular and revered Seal community.

Both sides told jurors that witnesses had lied on the stand and it was their duty to push through the evidence to find the truth. Mr Gallagher, 40, did not take the stand.

The panel of five Marines and two sailors, including a Seal, had to decide whether Mr Gallagher, a 19-year veteran on his eighth tour, went off the rails and fatally stabbed the war prisoner on May 3, 2017, as a kind of trophy kill.

Or was he the victim of allegations fabricated after the platoon returned to San Diego to stop him from getting a Silver Star and being promoted.

Under the military system, two thirds of a jury must agree to convict. In Mr Gallagher's case, that meant five of seven jurors.

Military juries also have the option to convict on lesser charges, such as attempted murder.

It is not known whether any of Mr Gallagher's jurors voted for a conviction on the most serious charges as vote tallies are not made public.

The other four charges against him were the unlawful discharge of his firearm by shooting at non-combatants, wrongfully posing with a human casualty, impeding an investigation by discouraging platoon members from reporting his criminal actions and retaliating against those who did.

The two-week trial included the testimonies of nearly a dozen Seals, including Special Operator Corey Scott, a medic like Mr Gallagher.

Mr Scott told the court that he saw the chief stab the ISIS militant in the neck, but he stunned the court when he said he was the one who ultimately killed the prisoner by plugging his breathing tube with his thumb in an act of mercy.

Seven Seals said Mr Gallagher unexpectedly stabbed the captive moments after he and the other medics treated the detainee, who was wounded in an air strike that morning outside Mosul.

Two, including Mr Scott, testified that they saw Mr Gallagher plunge his knife into the prisoner's neck.

During the trial, it was revealed that nearly all of the platoon members posed for photos with the dead prisoner and watched as Mr Gallagher read his re-enlistment oath near the body in an impromptu ceremony.

Defence lawyers called the pictures of Mr Gallagher, a Bronze Star recipient, clutching the corpse's hair and his texts about his knife skills the dark humour of a warrior.

An Iraqi general who handed the wounded prisoner to the Seals testified that Mr Gallagher did not stab the boy.

Marine Staff Sgt Giorgio Kirylo said that after the militant died he moved the body to take a "cool-guy trophy" photo with it and saw no stab wounds on his neck.

Mr Gallagher's lawyers said there were things that could have caused the militant's death, including internal injuries from the blast.

Most of the witnesses were granted immunity to protect them from being prosecuted for acts they described on the stand.

Lt Jacob Portier, the officer in charge, has been charged for overseeing the re-enlistment ceremony and not reporting the alleged stabbing.

The trial followed months of turmoil in one of the Navy's most prominent war cases, including the removal of the lead prosecutor after it was discovered the prosecution had tracked the emails of the defence team to find a news leak.

In response to that the judge lowered the maximum sentence Mr Gallagher could face for premeditated murder to life in prison with parole, instead of without.