Lenient sentence for US soldier in 2004 death of Turks
A United States soldier once deployed in Turkey was sentenced to 10 months in prison by a Turkish court for his involvement in a 2004 accident that ended up killing two Turks in southern Turkey. The court suspended the prison term as well as an additional TL 93 ($31.68) fine. Christopher Callahan Shumaker was a 26-year-old soldier deployed at İncirlik Air Base in the southern city of Adana when he crashed into a young couple riding a motorcycle. Gülmehmet Kardaş, 18, and his pregnant spouse Zerrin Ugunlu, 19, were killed when the civilian car Shumaker was driving hit them. The couple died at the scene while Shumaker, after a controversial legal process, was allowed to leave the country.
Shumaker, who is currently in the U.S., did not attend the hearing at an Adana court yesterday. The family of the victims, who had expressed dismay in the process during the earlier hearings, also did not attend the hearing. The court initially sentenced Shumaker to four years in prison and slapped him with a fine of TL 450 under the laws that were in effect when the crime was committed. His sentence was later commuted as judges ruled he was not at fault in the accident as much and for his "good behavior" during the hearings. Shumaker has denied any wrongdoing in his earlier statement to the court and claimed the accident was result of Kardaş's failure to signal his sudden return. He claimed he hit the brakes in time but hit the motorcycle anyway.
His trial was mired with legal hurdles and was delayed due to red tape. After his initial detention, he was released and the court allowed Shumaker to leave the country though he was charged with causing deaths through negligence. After the abolition of courts handling such cases, the lawsuit was referred to another court, further dragging down the process. Shumaker would not be subject to prosecution if the accident took place while the soldier was on duty but his testimony revealed he was out having lunch when the accident occurred. He did not attend any hearings and his testimony to the court was sent in written form. Another U.S. soldier deployed at İncirlik Air Base was fined for a traffic accident that killed a Turkish driver and injured another one in 2007. Capt. Sean Richard Lovest was released pending trial and was fined TL 18,000.
Shumaker, who is currently in the U.S., did not attend the hearing at an Adana court yesterday. The family of the victims, who had expressed dismay in the process during the earlier hearings, also did not attend the hearing. The court initially sentenced Shumaker to four years in prison and slapped him with a fine of TL 450 under the laws that were in effect when the crime was committed. His sentence was later commuted as judges ruled he was not at fault in the accident as much and for his "good behavior" during the hearings. Shumaker has denied any wrongdoing in his earlier statement to the court and claimed the accident was result of Kardaş's failure to signal his sudden return. He claimed he hit the brakes in time but hit the motorcycle anyway.
His trial was mired with legal hurdles and was delayed due to red tape. After his initial detention, he was released and the court allowed Shumaker to leave the country though he was charged with causing deaths through negligence. After the abolition of courts handling such cases, the lawsuit was referred to another court, further dragging down the process. Shumaker would not be subject to prosecution if the accident took place while the soldier was on duty but his testimony revealed he was out having lunch when the accident occurred. He did not attend any hearings and his testimony to the court was sent in written form. Another U.S. soldier deployed at İncirlik Air Base was fined for a traffic accident that killed a Turkish driver and injured another one in 2007. Capt. Sean Richard Lovest was released pending trial and was fined TL 18,000.