Army Court Won't Make Afghan Corpse Photos Public

SEATTLE (AP) — An Army court is refusing to order that gruesome Afghan corpse photographs taken by Washington state-based soldiers be made public.

Pfc. Andrew Holmes is one of five soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord charged in the deaths of three civilians in Kandahar Province last year. He filed a petition asking the Army Court of Criminal Appeals to allow him to present the sensitive photographs during a preliminary hearing in his case.

Holmes' attorney, Dan Conway, argues the photographs could help show that the injuries one victim sustained were not caused by his client's weapon. The Army is keeping a tight lid on the pictures because it fears they could cause a backlash among Afghan citizens. But Holmes' attorney says that violates Holmes' right to public legal proceedings.

The court issued a two-sentence order Friday and did not explain its reasoning.