Ex-soldier appealing sentences in Iraq deaths

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal appeals panel is considering the constitutionality of a law that allowed the government to charge and convict a former U.S. soldier in civilian court of crimes committed while on active duty.

A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here today questioned attorneys about the validity of the law used to send former Pfc. Steven Dale Green to federal prison. He is serving five life sentences for raping and killing an Iraqi girl and killing three of her family members.

A civilian jury in western Kentucky convicted the 25-year-old former member of the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne in 2009.

Green, of Midland, Texas, was the first person charged under the law that allows U.S. authorities to prosecute former military personnel, contractors and others for crimes committed overseas.