Soldier may be tried for fifth time for double murder charges

Military Hearing for Soldier Charged with Double Murder After Four Inconclusive Trials

By CHRISTINA NG
July 29, 2011
Prosecutors have been unable to convict Army Sgt. Brent Burke of a double murder in four civilian trials and had decided to not try him again. But Burke now faces the likelihood of a military trial in which a unanimous jury is not necessary to find him guilty.

After two hung juries and two dismissed mistrials, the case has been turned over to the military where only two-thirds of the jury would have to believe him guilty in order to convict him.

"I wouldn't say it's common," said Victor Hansen, a professor of law at New England Law and a retired Army lawyer, referring to the military trying a soldier for a crime that was previously tried in a civilian court.

Burke was charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of his estranged wife, Tracy Burke, and her former mother-in-law from a previous marriage, Karen Comer. The two women were found shot dead on Sept. 11, 2007 in Comer's Rineyville, Ky., home when one of three children at the house called police.

In June, after another mistrial, charges against Burke were dropped.

Less than two weeks later, the military charged Burke with two counts of premeditated murder. There is no issue of double jeopardy between a civilian court and a military court.
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Military Hearing for Soldier Charged with Double Murder