Lt. Col. E-mail in Iraq Case 'Adulterous in Nature'
The case against a top Army commander accused of misconduct that could put him in prison for life, if convicted, began to unfold today as an Article 32 hearing began in Baghdad against Lt. Col. William H. Steele.
Steele, a 51-year-old reservist from Virginia, is accused of aiding the enemy by providing a detainee at an Iraq prison with a cell phone to use for unmonitored personal calls. This could bring a life prison term if he is convicted, reports the LA Times. The hearing will determine if he should be court-martialed on this and other charges related to his alleged abuse of his position as a top military prison commander.
At the outset, the hearing reportedly focused on Steele’s alleged use of pornography on a computer laptop. “The suspect’s e-mail appears to be adulterous in nature,” said witness Patrick Rasmussen, an Army special agent who is a computer forensics expert.
