Nearly a dozen SEALs have testified over the past two weeks. A jury of five Marines and two sailors, one a SEAL, will weigh whether Gallagher, on his eighth deployment, went off the rails and fatally stabbed the war prisoner as a kind of trophy kill, or if the boy died from wounds sustained in an airstrike and Gallagher is being falsely accused by junior SEALs trying to permanently oust a platoon chief they hate. The lead prosecutor was removed after allegedly tracking the defense team’s emails to find a news leak, and the lead investigator acknowledged on the stand making mistakes.Ĭlosing arguments are expected Monday. The trial also has shown the struggles of military courts in prosecuting alleged war crimes.

Jacob Portier, the officer in charge, has been charged separately for overseeing the ceremony and not reporting the alleged stabbing. During Gallagher’s trial, it was revealed that nearly all his platoon members readily posed for photos with the dead militant and watched as Gallagher read his reenlistment oath near the body in an impromptu ceremony.

The scandals have prompted a review by the Navy’s top commanders into the behavior of the special warfare teams.

Navy seal on trial for war crimes