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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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June 14th,
2007 - Attorney Points to Combat Stress in Defense of Accused Marine 1st news article by
North County Times |
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Attorney
Points to Combat Stress in Defense of Accused Marine By Teri Figueroa North County Times June 14, 2007 8:04 AM PDT Camp Pendleton - The Marine
sergeant accused of being the alleged architect of the kidnapping and killing
of a retired Iraqi man lived "in a hell that most people can't even
imagine" during his deployment in 2006, the sergeant's civilian attorney
said. Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins
primarily lived with his eight-man squad in an unsecured compound less than a
mile outside of the rural village of Hamdania, his attorney Rich Brannon said
Wednesday. "It was 'cowboy
country' and they are living in it," Brannon said. "It was terrific
stress. Can you imagine laying down every night knowing that people who want
to kill you are only a hundred yards away?" Brannon said the living
situation is a big part of his legal defense for Hutchins, who prosecutors
say was the Marine calling the shots on April 26, 2006, the night that the
squad Hutchins led kidnapped 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad from his
Hamdania home and killed him. Hutchins, 23, has pleaded
not guilty to charges that include murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. The
Plymouth, Mass., native faces life in prison if he is convicted at his
court-martial trial, which begins July 24. Brannon, speaking at the end
of a three-day pretrial hearing for Hutchins, said his planned defense is
what is known as "partial mental responsibility." Brannon pointed to the
living conditions of Hutchins and his squad, who spend much of their time
living in a small compound outside the relative safety of the nearby military
base. Brannon said only a few Marines lived in the compound at a time, and
that the place was essentially a staging point for some military squads
patrolling the city. "If you are under
terrific stress, lack of sleep, living ... near people who want to kill
you," Brannon said, "sometimes those soldiers might commit an act
that to a civilian might seem improper, but it certainly does not seem
improper when you are in a combat environment." Such a defense can be used
to negate or lessen the allegations of an intent to kill that is required in
a murder charge, said Kathleen Duignan, the executive director of the
National Military Justice Institute. "It's commonly raised,
but difficult to prove," Duignan said of the tactic. "It's not a
complete defense. It lessens the crime." In other words, it makes it
easier for the defense to argue that a killing was not murder, which requires
an intent to kill. Other homicides, such as manslaughter and negligent
homicide, do not require such an intent. Hutchins is the highest
ranking of eight Camp Pendleton troops accused in a plot that allegedly
resulted in the men snatching Awad from his home, marching him down the road
and killing him. Marines have testified that the scene was staged to make it
appear that he was planting a roadside bomb. "I do believe my client
was subjected to live in a hell that most people can't even imagine,"
Brannon said. "My position is that they shot a terrorist, and that
continues to be my position." It is unclear what evidence,
if any, exists to support Brannon's position, and Brannon declined to say
whether there is such evidence. A large chunk of Hutchins' pretrial hearing
was behind closed doors because it centered on classified material. Five of the eight accused
troops have pleaded guilty. Many of them have testified that the original
plot targeted a different man. Four of the eight men hunted for that man, and
when he could not be found at his Hamdania home, they grabbed his neighbor
instead. Except for the victim, the rest of their actions remained as planned,
some of them have testified. The Marines at first deemed
it a legitimate shooting, but opened an investigation after Awad's family
members complained. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/14/news/top_stories/1_02_476_13_07.txt Judge: Jury
will not hear Marine’s CNN interview By Teri Figueroa North County Times June 14, 2007 2:40 PM PDT Camp Pendleton - Jurors will
not hear a broadcast interview in which a Marine corporal accused of
murdering an Iraqi man said the killing was done to "set an example for
any future terrorists," a judge ruled Thursday. Prosecutors wanted to show the
interview Cpl. Trent Thomas gave to CNN in February, the day before Thomas
withdrew his plea of guilty to the charges. Thomas is one of eight Camp
Pendleton troops assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment accused
of dragging a 52-year-old Iraqi man out of his home, shooting him, then
staging the scene to make it appear he had been planting a roadside 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, in the rural Iraqi
village of Hamdania on April 26, 2006. A court-martial, or military
trial, for the 25-year-old St. Louis native is set to begin on July 9. According to testimony from
some of Thomas' co-defendants, the plan was to kidnap and kill a suspected
insurgent, Saleh Gowad. But when the squad could not
find Gowad, they instead grabbed his neighbor, Awad, and carried out the rest
of the plan. "At the time I felt
that I was doing what I had to do," Thomas said in the interview, which
aired February 12, "and now that I'm back here, I know that it was wrong
what we did. And for that, I'm truly sorry." In the CNN interview, Thomas
compared the situation of the Marines to that of a badly abused wife. "Put Marines in the
same situation," he said. "They're getting shot at. They're getting
blown up every day. And they get mad, and they go out and do something. Is it
justified?" The point of the killing was
to "set an example for any future terrorists that are going to put an
IED on this road," Thomas said during the interview. But the military judge, Lt.
Col. David Jones, said he was "not inclined" to let prosecutors
present the interview as evidence, and found the interview could be "a
waste of time and irrelevant" to the case. Two of Thomas' co-defendants
have also pleaded not guilty to playing roles in Awad's death, and are set
for court-martial this summer. The other five accused men
have pleaded guilty to reduced charges and agreed to testify against the
others in exchange for light sentences. Four of the five troops were
sentenced to less than two years confinement for their roles in the slaying,
including those who were triggerman. One of the men who pleaded guilty,
Pvt. Robert Pennington, testified Thursday that he advised Thomas against the
interview. "I told him it was a
bad idea," Pennington said. "I said 'It's CNN. They are gonna twist
it, You know they are gonna twist it.'" But Thomas had already decided
to do it, Pennington said. "I think he said he
wanted to get his message out," Pennington said. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/14/news/top_stories/1_01_103_14_07.txt |