Afghan civilians testify against soldier

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The U.S. military has been criticized for its spotty record on convicting troops of killing civilians, but a hearing against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales involving a massacre in Afghanistan has shown that it isn't like most cases.

Government prosecutors have built a strong eyewitness case against the soldier, with troops recounting how they saw Bales return to the base covered in blood. And in unusual testimony in a military court, Afghan civilians questioned via a video link described seeing 16 people killed in their villages.

Law experts say the case could test whether the military, aided by technology, is able to embark on a new era of accountability.

Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted in a court-martial.

A range of factors make prosecuting troops for civilian deaths in foreign lands difficult, including gathering eyewitness testimony and collecting evidence at a crime scene in the midst of a war.

Yet, through a video monitor in a military courtroom near Seattle, Bales saw Afghan girls describe the bloodbath he's accused of committing. Boys remembered how they hid behind curtains when a gunman killed people in their village and one other.

None of the Afghan witnesses were able to identify Bales as the shooter, but other evidence, including tests of the blood on his clothes, implicated him, according to testimony from a DNA expert.