NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee soldier found guilty of negligent homicide for ordering his subordinates to kill Iraqi detainees has filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence to 10 years in prison.

Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard, of Sweetwater, was found guilty by a military jury last year at Fort Campbell, Ky., in the deaths of three detainees during a 2006 raid near Samarra, Iraq.

The appeal, filed Monday with the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals, argues that it is against military policy to hold a leader responsible for the intentional killings by his subordinates during combat missions.

Girouard was the most senior of four 101st Airborne Division soldiers found guilty in the case. Spc. William Hunsaker and Pfc. Corey Clagett both pleaded guilty and testified Girouard ordered them to release the detainees and shoot them as they fled.

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