Military judge removes prosecutor from Navy SEAL murder case

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A judge in California has removed the lead prosecutor from the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes in Iraq.

The military judge on Monday took the rare step after defense lawyers accused the prosecution of spying on their emails. Prosecutors tried to track defense emails in an effort to find the source of news leaks. The defense said that amounted to misconduct.

The judge in San Diego removed the prosecutor from the case against Edward Gallagher and said he’d rule by Wednesday on whether to dismiss charges.

Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of a teenage militant in Iraq in 2017 and to attempted murder after being accused of picking off two civilians from a sniper’s perch.

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Melley reported from Los Angeles.