thedrifter
07-24-07, 06:14 AM
Alleged Hamdaniya ringleader in court today
By Thomas Watkins - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 24, 2007 6:57:28 EDT
LOS ANGELES — Days after Marine prosecutors failed to put a corporal behind bars in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi man, their sights are set on the alleged ringleader in the plan to kidnap and execute a suspected Hamdaniya insurgent.
Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, the leader of the eight-man squad involved in the death, faced jury selection Tuesday in his court-martial on murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, assault and other charges.
Camp Pendleton prosecutors are set to call several former squad members who testified against Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, who was acquitted last week of premeditated murder. Thomas was convicted of murder conspiracy and kidnapping, but he escaped with a bad-conduct discharge and no prison time after serving 14 months in the brig awaiting trial.
Key to the acquittal was winning the sympathy of a jury of his peers, all of whom had served tours of duty in Iraq, Thomas’ attorney Victor Kelley said.
“It was good to filter [the case] through the lenses of combat,” Kelley said.
Hutchins’ attorneys were set Tuesday to screen military jurors at the start of his court-martial. Attorney Rich Brannon said all 12 potential jurors have been deployed on at least one combat tour.
“I think they will have some empathy for my client,” Brannon said. “I don’t think you have a right to judge people until you have been there.”
Prosecutors say Hutchins’ squad hatched a plot to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent. But when they were unable to find him, the troops instead kidnapped a neighbor, 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad, marched him 1,000 yards from his house and shot him to death in a roadside hole. They then tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and gun on his body to make it look like he was an insurgent, prosecutors say.
All eight men were originally charged with murder. Five pleaded guilty to lesser charges for sentences ranging from one to eight years and agreed to testify against Hutchins, Thomas and Cpl. Marshall Magincalda.
Terry Pennington, whose son Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington received the stiffest sentence, said lawyers in January advised him against risking a court-martial because many potential jurors at that time were not combat vets.
“He did at the time what seemed to be the right thing,” said the elder Pennington, adding he would appeal for his son’s early release.
Ellie
By Thomas Watkins - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 24, 2007 6:57:28 EDT
LOS ANGELES — Days after Marine prosecutors failed to put a corporal behind bars in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi man, their sights are set on the alleged ringleader in the plan to kidnap and execute a suspected Hamdaniya insurgent.
Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, the leader of the eight-man squad involved in the death, faced jury selection Tuesday in his court-martial on murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, assault and other charges.
Camp Pendleton prosecutors are set to call several former squad members who testified against Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, who was acquitted last week of premeditated murder. Thomas was convicted of murder conspiracy and kidnapping, but he escaped with a bad-conduct discharge and no prison time after serving 14 months in the brig awaiting trial.
Key to the acquittal was winning the sympathy of a jury of his peers, all of whom had served tours of duty in Iraq, Thomas’ attorney Victor Kelley said.
“It was good to filter [the case] through the lenses of combat,” Kelley said.
Hutchins’ attorneys were set Tuesday to screen military jurors at the start of his court-martial. Attorney Rich Brannon said all 12 potential jurors have been deployed on at least one combat tour.
“I think they will have some empathy for my client,” Brannon said. “I don’t think you have a right to judge people until you have been there.”
Prosecutors say Hutchins’ squad hatched a plot to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent. But when they were unable to find him, the troops instead kidnapped a neighbor, 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad, marched him 1,000 yards from his house and shot him to death in a roadside hole. They then tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and gun on his body to make it look like he was an insurgent, prosecutors say.
All eight men were originally charged with murder. Five pleaded guilty to lesser charges for sentences ranging from one to eight years and agreed to testify against Hutchins, Thomas and Cpl. Marshall Magincalda.
Terry Pennington, whose son Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington received the stiffest sentence, said lawyers in January advised him against risking a court-martial because many potential jurors at that time were not combat vets.
“He did at the time what seemed to be the right thing,” said the elder Pennington, adding he would appeal for his son’s early release.
Ellie