Hearing set to decide MP's fate
{journalist's name unknown}

AUGSBURG, Germany (S&S) - A pre-trial investigative hearing is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17 to determine whether an Army military policeman will face court-martial in the shooting death of an unarmed civilian July 1 {1997}.
Pfc. Sammie L. McCall, 20, was charged last month with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Kenneth Wiggins, 43. McCall is assigned to the 793rd Military Police Battalion.
The hearing is required as part of any article 32 investigation to determine whether a case can be referred to a general court-martial, said Connie Summers, a V Corps public affairs spokeswoman in Heidelberg.
McCall is accused of firing once in the direction of Wiggins' car as the civilian employee of the Armed Forces Recreation Center in Chiemsee was leaving the Augsburg post exchange parking lot. The bullet went through Wiggins' heart.
Military policemen had questioned Wiggins as a possible shoplifting suspect after an off-duty military policeman allegedly spotted him loading cartons of cigarettes into the trunk of his green Mercedes-Benz. Investigators haven't said whether those cigarettes were legally purchased.
When approached by two on-duty military policemen who wanted to see the contents of his trunk, Wiggins said he did not have a key to open it, the Augsburg Allgemeine newspaper reported. When one of the officers left to question officials in the exchange, Wiggins got into his car, locked the doors and attempted to leave, the newspaper said. After Wiggins was shot, his car went out of control and rammed a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although McCall has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, investigators have not yet said whether he intentionally fired his weapon or whether it discharged accidentally. McCall has been reassigned to administrative duties.

Return to "System failed MP" or

Return to MP Articles