
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990                   TAG: 9004120542
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE:  By Los Angeles Times and The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

SOLDIER TIED TO SLAYING

In a criminal action arising out of the invasion of Panama, a decorated Army paratrooper has been charged with murdering an unidentified Panamanian man and assaulting three others, military officials said Wednesday.

It was the first time since the Vietnam War that a soldier was charged with murder in a combat situation.

First Sgt. Roberto Enrique Bryan, a 42-year-old career non-commissioned officer of the vaunted 82nd Airborne Division, was staffing a checkpoint Dec. 23 when a grenade was thrown from a car filled with Panamanians, killing one of Bryan's men.

A shootout followed in which several occupants of the car, all in civilian clothes, were killed, and subsequently, at least two men were pulled from the car and arrested, according to Army sources. Bryan, a native of Panama, is alleged to have fatally shot one of the prisoners, the sources said.

Bryan also is charged with three counts of aggravated assault for allegedly hitting two Panamanians with the butt of his M-16 assault rifle on Dec. 20 - the day that U.S. forces swept into Panama - and whipping a third man with a section of rubber hose Dec. 21, said Army Maj. Joe Padilla, a Pentagon spokesman. In the invasion-day incidents, Bryan is charged with hitting one man on the head with the M-16 and smashing another man on the hand.

The charges against Bryan stemmed from an investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. The Army command reportedly is investigating 20 other incidents of serious misconduct during and after the Panama invasion.

Bryan has been appointed a military lawyer. He is not being ordered confined at Fort Bragg, N.C., the 82nd Airborne's base, said Maj. Ned Ennis, a spokesman there. Ennis added that Bryan has been relieved of previous duties and is spending time "crafting his defense."

The charges are expected to be referred to an investigating officer, who will recommend whether the case should be forwarded to Maj. Gen. James H. Johnson Jr., commander of the 82nd Airborne, who will decide whether to convene a court-martial.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the penalties for premeditated murder include death or life imprisonment, dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and reduction in rank.

by CNB