JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) — Day two of a preliminary hearing in the case of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is under way, and the first witnesses for the defense are scheduled to take the stand. A total of eight witnesses had been scheduled to testify Tuesday, but the day began with a defense lawyer saying she'd changed her mind about calling one of them. Three defense witnesses and four government witnesses, all Special Forces members, remained on the list. Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder in an attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan last March. A prosecutor said Monday that Bales slipped away from his post in Kandahar Province at night and returned soaked in blood. He was wearing a cape, which other soldiers speculated might have been because enemy fighters sometimes wore them to try to hide from U.S. surveillance cameras.
Defense set to begin in Afghan massacre case
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In this detail of a courtroom sketch, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, seated at front-right, listens Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, during a preliminary hearing in a military courtroom at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. Bales is accused of 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder for a pre-dawn attack on two villages in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan in March, 2012. At upper-right is Investigating Officer Col. Lee Deneke, and seated at front-left is Bales' civilian attorney, Emma Scanlan. (AP Photo/Lois Silver)
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FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011 file photo, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. As Army officials weigh whether a case against a staff sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a pre-dawn rampage will proceed to a court-martial, Robert Bales’ defense team says the government’s case is incomplete. And outside experts say a key issue going forward will be to determine whether Bales, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. "There are a number of questions that have not been answered so far in this investigation," defense attorney Emma Scanlan told the investigating officer overseeing the preliminary hearing during closing arguments Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock, File)
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In this courtroom sketch, Sgt. Jason McLaughlin, a prosecution witness in the preliminary hearing of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, is shown Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, on the stand in a military courtroom at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. Bales is accused of 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder for a pre-dawn attack on two villages in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan in March, 2012. (AP Photo/Lois Silver)
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Soldiers and security officers stand Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, outside the building housing a military courtroom on Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state, where a preliminary hearing began Monday for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. Bales is accused of 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder for a pre-dawn attack on two villages in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan last March. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011, file photo, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The preliminary hearing for Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March, begins Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, with villagers expected to testify by video from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Bales is scheduled to appear at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the pretrial hearing, which is expected to last two weeks. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock, File)
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FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011, file photo, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The preliminary hearing for Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March, begins Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, with villagers expected to testify by video from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Bales is scheduled to appear at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the pretrial hearing, which is expected to last two weeks. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock, File)
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