Mother seeks light sentence for lance corporal in Awad killing

By: MARK WALKER ---- Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The mother of a Marine lance corporal who has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiring to kill an Iraqi civilian last year Friday morning implored the court to give her son a light sentence.

Deanna Pennington told a military judge presiding over the court-martial of Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington that her son was dramatically changed as a result of three deployments to Iraq since 2003, assignments during which he lost two of his best friends in combat.

After his second deployment, in which he took part in the battle for the city of Fallujah in 2004 and one of those friends was killed, she said her son's previously constant smile was gone.

"It wasn't Bobby anymore," she said in a halting voice. "The smile was gone. The smile never reached his eyes anymore. He couldn't talk with me about his experiences."

She said she worried about his mental health and post-traumatic stress when he came home from that experience.

"He was just so quick to get angry. He would be very fast to get mad at me and he never did that before. He also had developed some kind of little nervous tics.

"He was still my son ---- he was just changed."

The 22-year-old Pennington is one of eight men from a 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment platoon charged in the April 26 abduction and shooting death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a 52-year-old retired Iraqi policeman. He is the fifth man to plead guilty in the case.

After her son was arrested during his third deployment that began in January 2006, Deanna Pennington said he became even more withdrawn.

"The part of Bobby that died in Fallujah died even further," she said, adding her son has been at war "his entire adult life. I would only ask that Bobby be allowed to heal."

Her son's role in Awad's death, she said, was the result of poor leadership.

"He was misdirected in this," she testified. "He thought he was doing the right thing."

On Thursday, another man charged in the case who has pleaded guilty, Hospitalman Recruit Melson Bacos, testifed for the prosecution that Pennington joked about the corpse in the minutes after Awad was slain. Bacos also said Pennington took Awad's lifeless hand and slapped the victim's own face with it several times and joked "quit hitting yourself."

Testimony is continuing in the fourth day of Pennington's court-martial.

A mental health expert called by the defense is testifying about the stresses faced by being placed in life-or-death circumstances.

In exchange for Pennington's guilty pleas, prosecutors have withdrawn murder, larceny and housebreaking charges.

By day's end, the prosecution and defense are expected to argue for what they believe is an appropriate sentence for the Seattle area native.

The terms of his plea agreement Pennington won't be revealed until the judge, Col. Steven Folsom pronounces a sentence. Whichever sentence is lesser ---- the one in the plea agreement or the one that Folsom pronounces ---- will be the one that Pennington serves.

See tomorrow's North County Times for a complete story on Friday's court action.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

Ellie