By AP
Fort Bragg, NC – The trial has been pushed back from October to February for a soldier charged with killing two 101st Airborne Division officers in a grenade attack as the war with Iraq unfolded.
A military judge at Fort Bragg, North Carolina is giving attorneys more time to prepare an insanity defense for 33 year old Sgt. Hasan Akbar. He set the new trial date for February 15th.
Akbar is charged in a Marck 2003 grenade attack that killed two officers and wounded 14 soldiers from the Fort Campbell based unit.
Defense attorneys had told the judge that a psychiatric expert and an expert studying Akbar's family wouldn't be ready until March 7th. Attorney Wazir Al-Haqq says a psychiatrist has found evidence of mental illness, but the type hasn't been determined.
The judge noted that the defense case comes after jury selection and presentation of government evidence so it probably wouldn't have to begin until March.
Akbar faces the death penalty if he's convicted of two counts of premeditated murder.