1 of 2. Staff Sgt. Robert Balen, (L) 1st platoon sergeant, Black horse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd infantry regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, is seen during an exercise at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, in August this year 23, 2011 DVIDS handout photo.
Credit: Reuters/Department of Defense/hand-Spc. Ryan Hallock/outBy Bill Rigby
TACOMA, Washington | Sat 17 Mar 2012 7: 23 pm EDT
TACOMA, Washington (Reuters)-the lawyer represents the American soldier involved in the massacre of 16 villagers in Afghanistan said Saturday that he and other members of the defence team would spend several days with him in the coming week.
U.s. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Balen is in solitary confinement in a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he arrived late on Friday.
Bales, 38 and a four-tour combat veteran, is suspected of walk from its base in southern Afghanistan on Sunday and gunning down the 16 civilians, including nine children and three women, in a massacre that U.s.-Afghan relations into a tailspin sent.
Bales, whose military unit is based just south of Tacoma, Washington, had occurred in Kuwait, after he was flown out of Afghanistan on Wednesday. He has not yet established.
Civil lawyer, John Henry Browne, bales said in a statement that he was in the defence effort by Emma Scanlan, also a civilian and a military defense, Major Thomas Hurley is accompanied.
"Public reports that Sergeant Bales supervisors, family and friends describe him as a newbie, experienced soldier consistent with information collected by the defense team," said Browne the statement. "It is too early to determine what factors may have played in this incident and the defense team looks forward to the review of the research evidence, all medical and personnel records and interviewing Sergeant Bale witnesses."
An unnamed U.S. official had told The New York Times the killings were a result of "a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues — he just snapped."
But Browne has disproven that saying on CNN that marital problems were "totally bogus." He said that his client had a "very strong marriage and, frankly, we're all taking attack on that."
FAMILY MOVED TO BASE
"Sergeant Bales family in the face of this tragedy is stunned, but they stand behind the man they know as a dedicated husband, father and devoted member of the armed forces," the statement on Saturday said Browne.
Balen, wife, and two young children moved to Karilyn apartment on joint Base Lewis-McChord military outside of Tacoma, said Browne earlier in the week.
The couple House approximately 45 minutes east of the base, and was recently set up for sale is vacant, according to local real estate listings.
Balen, who completed a two-year associate college degree in 1992, joined the army in 2001, the army said in a statement late on Friday when it formally identified him for the first time since Sunday incident.
His home of record was listed as Jensen Beach, Florida, although Browne has said that Balen grew up in the Midwest.
His military education included in sniper training, military leadership skills and a course called "fight life savers."
The army statement said that Bales had spent a total of 37 months during three deployments in Iraq between 2003 and 2010.
(Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Xavier Briand)
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