Russell was charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. On May 15, 2012, prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty, overruling a pre-trial hearing recommendation that Russell's mental "disease or defect" made capital punishment inappropriate. Lead defense attorney James Culp stated he would pursue an insanity defense, alleging treatment Russell received just prior to the killings was "mental health mistreatment" and "a significant causal factor" in the massacre.
Mental health claims Under already contentious circumstances, the decision by military prosecutors to seek a death sentence against Sgt. Russell re-energized a blame game that pitted Russell's defense attorneys against the U.S. Army psychiatric team their client partly targeted at the Camp Liberty Combat Stress Center. Lead defense attorney James Culp called treatment Russell received just prior to the killings "mental health mistreatment" and "a significant causal factor" in the massacre, In 2013, before the tribunal at
Joint Base Lewis–McChord, Russell pleaded guilty to five counts of unpremeditated murder to avoid a possible death sentence. ==See also==