(Washington, DC)  --  U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH) today announced that he will draft and introduce a Sense of Congress resolution condemning the military for bringing new murder charges against a Twinsburg soldier nine months after earlier murder charges were dropped.   LaTourette will also request a hearing before the House Committee on Government Reform, of which he’s a member.

 “Erick Anderson is a college graduate who enlisted in the Army after 9-11 because he wanted to serve his country.  The Army charged him with murdering an Iraqi citizen, dropped the charges, and now has refiled murder charges against him,” LaTourette said.  “I think it is unconscionable that Erick is in this legal nightmare, and I believe in his innocence.”

 LaTourette said 2nd Lt. Erick Anderson of Twinsburg, OH, was charged on October 3, 2005, with two murders, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, making a false statement, and dereliction of duty for the deaths of Iraqi citizens on August 18 and 28, 2004.  Anderson faces the death penalty.  The Army alleges that Anderson committed the murders by firing his rifle and conspired to have others soldiers kill the Iraqi civilians as well.  The Army had dropped all charges against Anderson in January 2005 and did not previously allege that Anderson shot anyone.

 “Nine months ago the Army dropped a murder charge against platoon leader Erick Anderson and sent him back into combat in Iraq.  Now, the Army has rewarded him for his service to our country by filing new murder charges against him.  And you wonder why we have a recruiting problem?” LaTourette said.

 “Erick Anderson is steadfast in his innocence and insists he did not kill the Iraqi citizens, witness their killings or order their killings,” LaTourette said. 

 A former prosecutor whose congressional district includes Twinsburg, LaTourette said Anderson was initially charged with premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder over the August 18, 2004, shooting of an Iraqi teenager in Baghdad’s Sadr City.  Troops opened fire on a garbage truck suspected of dropping roadside bombs and seven Iraqis were killed, including a 16-year-old whose death was described as a mercy killing.  Two soldiers in Anderson’s unit, Staff Sgts. Caldenas Alban and Johnny Horne, admitted shooting the Iraqi to put him out of his misery and were convicted of murder.  They were sentenced to one and three years respectively.

 Anderson was not initially charged with any crime and later was charged with ordering his subordinates to shoot the Iraqi teen.  Anderson maintained his innocence and the military decided to drop all charges in January without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled.

 LaTourette said after the first set of charges was dropped he wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to question the decision to place Anderson back in combat with charges hanging over his head.  LaTourette argued it was an unfair and unsafe distraction.

 “I don’t know how one day the Army thinks you’re a homicidal murderer and the next day you’re fine to lead troops in combat,” LaTourette said.  “I thought it was horrible that the Army left Erick in legal limbo and urged Rumsfeld to charge the kid or drop the charges for good.”

 LaTourette said Anderson’s entire unit returned to Fort Riley in Kansas in June after a one-year tour of duty in Iraq.  Last month, Anderson said prosecutors hinted that the murder case would go away if he pleaded guilty to a dereliction of duty charge, but Anderson indicated he would not plead guilty to any crime because he had done nothing wrong.  The Army has since charged him with a second murder of an Iraqi citizen that took place near Sadr City on August 28; two other soldiers, Spc. Brent May and Sgt. Michael Williams, have already been convicted of that murder and are serving sentences of five years and life in prison, respectively.

 “My sense is that the Army isn’t going to be happy until they get someone higher up the food chain and that person unfortunately is Erick Anderson,” LaTourette said.

 Anderson, 26, grew up in Twinsburg, OH, and graduated from Youngstown State University, where he played football under Coach Jim Tressel, who now is the head coach at The Ohio State University.  Anderson enlisted in the Army after 9-11.