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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 13th,
2007 - Accused Marine Wants Jury to Hear Classified Info in Murder Trial |
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Accused Marine Wants Jury to
Hear Classified Info in Murder Trial By Teri Figueroa North County Times June 13, 2007 6:25 AM PDT Camp Pendleton - A Marine sergeant
accused of being the architect of a plot to kidnap and kill an Iraqi man was
in court Tuesday as his attorneys battled for permission to let his jury hear
classified military information they say is related to his case. At issue is not the classified
nature of the material - if necessary, the jury could be made up of Marines
with security clearance. Rather, the question before a military judge is
whether the classified information is relevant in the case of the defendant,
Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins against charges that include murder, kidnapping and
conspiracy. It was unclear which pieces
of military intelligence defense attorneys want the jury to hear. The
discussion of the classified information happened behind closed doors Tuesday
afternoon and will continue today. On Tuesday morning, during
an open portion of the pretrial hearing, an intelligence officer took the
stand and spoke against public disclosure of the documents. "There's a plethora of
items there that would threaten national security," the officer said in
a strong voice. Prosecutors asked that the man's name not be revealed to
protect his safety. The officer testified that
disclosing the classified information in Hutchins' case would reveal
"our capability to find the enemy," particularly with regard to the
way the military gathers intelligence. Hutchins is one of eight
Camp Pendleton troops accused of snatching 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad
from his home in the rural village of Hamdania in the early morning hours of
April 26, 2006. After marching him a mile or so up the road, the men
allegedly shot him and staged the scene to make him look like an insurgent
planting a bomb. Five of the accused men have
pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for testifying against the
others. Four of them received less than two years in jail; a fact that
Hutchins' attorneys want to share with the jury. The fifth man was sentenced
to eight years in jail. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/13/news/top_stories/1_02_426_12_07.txt |