Soldier sentenced to death for Kuwait grenade attack News
Soldier sentenced to death for Kuwait grenade attack

[JURIST] Sgt. Hasan Akbar [Wikipedia profile], the US soldier convicted of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder [JURIST story] for attacking comrades with a rifle and grenades in Kuwait during the early stages of the Iraq invasion, was sentenced to death by a military jury on Thursday. Two officers were killed and fourteen others were injured in the attack. The jury, which took seven hours to decide on the punishment, could have sentenced Akbar to life in prison without parole. Before the jury deliberation, Akbar gave a brief but barely audible apology where he asked for the jury's forgiveness. The sentence will now be reviewed by a commanding officer and also will be automatically appealed. If the sentence is upheld, Akbar will be executed by lethal injection. Akbar, who will be the sixth person on the military's death row, would be the first American since the Vietnam era to be prosecuted on charges of murdering a fellow soldier during wartime. The last US military execution was in 1961. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.