A jury began deliberations on Monday in the military trial of Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan, the only US officer charged in the infamous abuse scandal at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail.
The jury, comprised of a general and nine colonels, convened at 1:00 pm (1700 GMT) to decide the fate of Jordan, 51, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including dereliction of duty.
The abuse at Abu Ghraib came to light in 2004 when shocking photos of naked, collared Iraqi prisoners being tormented by grinning US soldiers drew international outrage.
If found guilty, Jordan faces up to eight years and six months behind bars.
In closing arguments, prosecutors said Jordan should be convicted for his failure to act while defense lawyers argued he was not present when the abuses occurred and had no direct authority over interrogations.
"This case is not about what Lieutenant Colonel Jordan did in Abu Ghraib. It's about what he divorced himself from doing," said prosecutor Colonel John Tracy.
"He didn't train, he didn't supervise, he didn't comply," said Tracy, saying the commander of Abu Ghraib meant to take responsibility of the center's operations.
"He failed to do that and by failing to do that, abuses occurred. He created an atmosphere that led to the abuses," Tracy said.
Defense lawyer Major Kris Poppe painted a different picture of an honorable officer who had nothing to do with the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
"The images of Abu Ghraib run in our memory. They were criminal acts, committed by a small number of soldiers in the middle of the night, behind closed doors," Poppe said.
"It is tempting to say that some officer must be held responsible. But not this officer," said his lawyer, adding: "You cannot stop somebody from doing something criminal if you're not there and you don't know about it".
Jordan, who oversaw the Abu Ghraib interrogations center from September to December 2003, did not have direct authority over the interrogations or the military police carrying them out, his lawyers said.
Only 11 soldiers have been convicted so far in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Most said they were simply obeying orders and received sentences ranging from a few hours of community work to 10 years behind bars.
Among the higher ranks, former general Janis Karpinski, prison commander in Iraq at the time of the scandal, was sanctioned with a demotion, but was never put on trial.
