Update on SEAL Trial

Note the highlighted conflicts in testimony.  Witness says the terrorist was punched in the chest.  Terrorist says he was hit in the back and shoulders. 

From Foxnews.com:

NORFOLK - One of the government's two key witnesses testified Wednesday morning that he saw Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe deliver a "right punch to the chest" of his detainee, suspected terrorist Ahmed Hashim Abed. McCabe is facing a court martial in Norfolk, Virginia, charged with assault for the alleged incident last September in Iraq.

Petty Officer Third Class Kevin Demartino testified that when he came into the detention cell, three Navy SEALs were leaving. He testified that Abed had fallen from his chair to the floor after the assault and when Demartino lifted him up, he noticed blood coming from under Abed's hood.

Asked on cross examination why he said nothing at first about the alleged assault, he told the court "I had a choice of being in good graces with the Navy SEALs or being in good graces with God." Demartino admits he's guilty of dereliction of duty for not immediately reporting what he saw.

Abed is the alleged mastermind of the grisly attack on four Blackwater contractors who were ambushed and killed in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004. Their bodies were burned and dragged through the streets as crowds cheered. Two of the bodies were hanged from a bridge over the Euphrates River.

This is the second day of testimony in the case of McCabe, the 24-year old Navy SEAL from Perrysberg, Ohio. A seven member jury is hearing the case, presided over by a Judge Advocate General, Captain Moira Modelewski. Two other SEALs faced trial in Baghdad and were found not guilty last month. Demartino gave the same testimony in those earlier trials.

Abed's taped testimony was heard in open court Tuesday. He said he was handcuffed and blindfolded and placed on a chair in the holding cell. He claims he was hit on the back and shoulders and knocked to the floor. He says he was kicked in the stomach and sworn at when he was down. But he says he could only see one person's feet and legs under his hood and cannot identify his assailant.

The defense claims Al Qaeda detainees are trained to claim abuse and that Abed caused his own lip to bleed.

Abed testified in person in the previous two trials, but the defense in this case declined the opportunity to confront the accuser in court.