Starkly different versions of the death of an unarmed Iraqi man are being related this morning in a court-martial against a Schofield Barracks soldier accused of murder.

A defense lawyer said Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales was going on reflexes when he shot an insurgent who possibly was armed.

A prosecutor, however, said Corrales acted illegally as "judge, jury and executioner."

Corrales is being tried on charges that include premeditated murder. In addition to the premeditated murder charge, Corrales, 35, also faces a charge of wrongfully soliciting another soldier to shoot the Iraqi.

Additionally, the San Antonio, Texas, man is accused of impeding a military investigation by causing an AK-47 rifle to be placed near the victim after he had been shot.

A second Schofield soldier has been convicted of aggravated assault after being accused of shooting the Iraqi man after being ordered to do so by Corrales.

Corrales and Spc. Christopher Shore, 25, of Winder, Ga., are accused of shooting the Iraqi man on June 23, 2007, after a raid in the village of al Saheed outside Kirkuk. The soldiers were looking for insurgents planting roadside bombs.

Corrales is accused of shooting the unarmed Iraqi multiple times, then ordering Shore to "finish" him.

Frank Spinner, a defense attorney for Corrales, said in opening statements that the question is "very simply put, did (Corrales) act reflexively or did he reflectively."

Spinner said the government would say Corrales thought about what he was going to do.

But "the defense theory of the case is that Sgt. 1st Class Corrales acted reflexively when he thought there was a captured insurgent in an unsecured backyard."

Spinner said that Corrales will tell the jury that he did not push the insurgent to the backyard of a house and that he does not know how the insurgent get to the back yard.

According to Spinner, Corrales will tell the court "What I do know is that when I went to check the backyard, I saw an insurgent back there."

The soldier was concerned there was the potential that someone had buried an AK-47 in the backyard or had access to one.

Spinner said Corrales will take tell the court "I did reflexively what I was trained to do as a soldier," when he shot at the man.

Spinner said Corrales will tell the jury that he believed he acted within the rules of engagement, and this is not a case of premeditated murder.

But Capt. Laura O'Donnell, the prosecutor, said that on that night, Corrales stepped out of his role of a soldier and stepped into the role of "judge, jury and executioner."

She said earlier that night, Corrales told his soldiers to kill all military age males.

He tried to get the Iraqi to take an AK-47 rifle, O'Donnell said, but the Iraqi was afraid and refused to take the weapon.

That night, "the accused went into that objective house, he found that detainee, he found him guilty, he sentenced him to death, and he took him out to that back yard and he executed him."