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Soldier facing murder charges hires civilian attorney
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The Fort Stewart soldier accused of the murder of two fellow noncommissioned officers in Iraq has retained a noted civilian attorney, Charles Gittins, to join his defense team.
Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich has been in pretrial confinement since an incident Sept. 14 at Patrol Base Jurf As Sakr in Iraq, after which he was charged with fatally shooting with a rifle Sgt. Wesley Durbin and SSgt. Darris Dawson. All three soldiers were members of the 3-7 Infantry Battalion of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division.
Bozicevich was first moved from Iraq to Kuwait to await transport to the Fort Stewart area, where he is confined at an undisclosed location.
Gittins said the pretrial discovery process was not yet complete, and “At this time, I will not make any statement about the case other than my client intends to defend himself vigorously through his military and civilian counsel in these proceedings and we believe that no one should make any judgments about the case until all of the facts have been established.”
Capt. Clay Compton was identified as Bozicevich’s appointed military counsel in Iraq. He has not responded to more than 10 e-mails from the Coastal Courier and efforts to reach him through Fort Stewart, Forces Command — Fort Stewart’s higher headquarters — and the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs in the Pentagon.
Gittins, a Marine Reserve lieutenant colonel, is a well known defense attorney who undertakes high-profile cases.
Army officials say the next step in the trial will be an Article 32 hearing, frequently compared to the civilian grand jury process. No date has been set for the hearing.
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