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RALEIGH, N.C. - A lawyer for the former CIA contractor accused of beating an Afghan detainee said Friday the prisoner died from a heart attack while in custody.
The contractor and former Army special operations soldier, 38-year-old David Passaro of Lillington, was charged Thursday with two counts each of assault and assault with a dangerous weapon - a flashlight. He has a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Raleigh.
Passaro was charged in connection with the June 21, 2003, death of Abdul Wali. Wali had gone to a U.S. base in Afghanistan to surrender because authorities wanted to talk to him about rocket attacks against the base. He died three days after he arrived.
The arrest was the first time civilian charges have been brought in the investigation of prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Civilian lawyer Gerald Beaver of Fayetteville said he has a transcript of an Islamic radio broadcast from June 27, 2003, in which an Afghan official said an examination showed Wali died of a heart attack.
"His story is he's innocent," Beaver said. "That's all I can tell you."