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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 2nd,
2007 - Assault Charge Dropped for Hamdania Defendant News article by North County Times |
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Assault Charge Dropped for
Hamdania Defendant By Teri Figueroa North County Times June 2, 2007 12:07 AM PDT Camp Pendleton - Military
prosecutors on Friday dropped assault charge they had levied against a Camp
Pendleton corporal who is also charged with the kidnapping and slaying of a
retired Iraqi policeman, a Marine Corps spokesman said. Maj. Jeff Nyhart said the
assault charge against Cpl. Trent Thomas was dropped because the alleged
victim refused to cooperate with military prosecutors. The decision to dismiss the
assault charge - which was part of an unrelated case arising from the slaying
investigation - came one day after a military judge told prosecutors to drop
the charge or grant Thomas' defense team a visit to Iraq to interview the
alleged victim. Prosecutors say Thomas is
one of eight Camp Pendleton troops assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine
Regiment who dragged a 52-year-old Iraqi man out of his home and shot him,
then tried to stage the scene by framing him as an insurgent planting a bomb. Thomas has pleaded not
guilty to charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and related
offenses in the death of the man, Hashim Ibrahim Awad, on April 26, 2006.
Court-martial for the St. Louis native is set to begin on July 9. The assault charge stemmed
from unrelated allegations that Thomas and some of his squad mates beat a
different Iraqi man in Hamdania more than two weeks before Awad's slaying. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/02/military/03_74_056_1_07.txt Assault charges dropped
against U.S. Marine sergeant By Adam Clark Gainesville Times June 2, 2007 In what a Gainesville
attorney called a "blow for justice," three charges of assault
against Marine Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, were dropped Friday in a
California military court. Until Friday, Hutchins faced
three charges of assault on Iraqi nationals, as well as accusations of
murder, kidnapping and conspiracy stemming from an April 26, 2006 incident in
Hamdania, a town between Baghdad and Fallujah. Hutchins led the squad that,
according to charging documents and press reports, took 52-year-old Hashim
Ibrahim Awad from his home, shot him and put a stolen AK-47 and shovel beside
him to make it appear he was planting a roadside bomb. Hutchins' lead attorney,
Gainesville-based Rich Brannon, has maintained his client's innocence and
said that the stress of the Iraq war and possible ties between Awad and
insurgents played a role. While Hutchins still faces
the murder charge, Brannon, said all three assault charges have been dropped. "Those charges were all
dismissed (Friday) afternoon," he said. "Today was a pretty good
day for us." However, Brannon - who spent
10 days in Iraq earlier this year gathering evidence and Friday filed a
motion to return - believes the motives behind dropping the charges are
suspect. "I filed a motion to go
back ... and now charges they were vehemently pursing are all of a sudden
being dismissed," he said. "You've got to wonder why it is they
don't want me to go back." Brannon said he was ready to
go, though he doubted he would be allowed to return. With the trail date looming
in July, Brannon is now preparing for another preliminary hearing on June 11
that he said is "one of the most critical, if not the most critical hearing
in the entire case." On June 11, he will ask the
court to declassify certain records that he believes are crucial to Hutchins'
case. For now though, he views the
dropped charges as a major step in the right direction. "In my opinion this was
a great blow for justice for these American Marines," he said. "I'm
sick and tired of them charging our service men for killing the enemy." External link: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20070602/localnews/176955.shtml |