|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
July 24th,
2007 - Military Trial Begins in Iraqi Killing News article by the Associated
Press |
|
Military Trial Begins in
Iraqi Killing By Thomas Watkins Associated Press July 24, 2007, 1:16PM Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
court-martial for the alleged ringleader in the kidnapping and execution of
an Iraqi civilian began Tuesday with attorneys in the case screening
potential jurors. Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins
III, 23, the leader of the eight-man squad involved in the death, is charged
with murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, assault and other crimes. Hutchins, of
Plymouth, Mass., faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of murder. 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, prosecutors said. They tried to cover up the
killing by planting a shovel and gun near the retired policeman's body to
make it look like he was an insurgent, according to prosecutors. Hutchins' attorney, Rich
Brannon, said he believes Awad was an insurgent who was killed with the tacit
approval of Hutchins' commanding officers. "You are always trying
to do what you think your superiors want you to do," Brannon said. Brannon said all the
potential jurors in his client's case have been deployed on at least one
combat tour. "I think they will have
some empathy for my client," he said. "I don't think you have a
right to judge people until you have been there." The seven Marines and Navy
corpsman all were charged with murder. The corpsman and four Marines made
plea deals in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging
from one to eight years in prison. Last week, Cpl. Trent Thomas
was acquitted of premeditated murder but convicted of murder conspiracy and
kidnapping; he was reduced in rank to private and given a bad-conduct
discharge but received no prison time. The other remaining
defendant is Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, whose court-martial began Monday. Thomas' attorney, Victor
Kelley, said his client was helped by having a jury of his peers, all of whom
had served tours of duty in Iraq. "It was good to filter
(the case) through the lenses of combat," Kelley said. 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 in light of Thomas' murder acquittal. © 2007 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4994434.html Witness says
lie hatched to cover Iraqi's execution By Alex Roth San Diego Union-Tribune July 24, 2007 Camp Pendleton – Several
days after a Marine squad kidnapped and executed a man in Hamdaniya, Iraq,
Cpl. Marshall Magincalda urged everyone in the unit to maintain that the
victim was an insurgent planting a bomb, a fellow Marine testified yesterday. Pvt. Tyler Jackson, a member
of the squad, said Magincalda told the servicemen to “stick to the story and
everything will be OK.” When military investigators
started looking into the killing, Jackson said, Magincalda was stunned to
learn that his squadmates opted to tell the truth. “He was upset, I'd say,”
Jackson testified in a Camp Pendleton courtroom during the court-martial for
Magincalda. Jackson said the truth was
that his squad came to the Iraqi man's home at night and snatched him from
his bed, led him to a roadside hole, bound him and shot him to death. Then
the unit allegedly put an AK-47 rifle, shell casings and a shovel near the
body to make it look as if the victim started a firefight after being
discovered working on an improvised explosive device. Before Jackson took the
witness stand, prosecutor Maj. Donald Plowman gave his opening statement.
Plowman told the jury that Magincalda wielded great influence in his unit and
that he participated in virtually every phase of the crime. “He helped kill this man and
then lied about it,” Plowman said. Defense attorneys
acknowledge that Magincalda tried to disguise the killing. But they insisted
that he objected to shooting the Iraqi man. “He said, 'I ain't gonna do it,'”
said Joseph Low, a civilian lawyer for Magincalda. The squadmates initially
hoped to kidnap and kill Saleh Gowad, whom they suspected of leading the
insurgency in Hamdaniya. The unit's leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, devised
the plot against Gowad, Jackson testified. Hutchins allegedly told his
squad members that if any of them had moral qualms with the plot, they should
speak up. No one did, Jackson said. Hutchins also told his men
that if Gowad couldn't be found, they should abduct a member of his family or
any other man in the house, Jackson testified. Prosecutors said the squad
snatched and killed Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a 52-year-old grandfather. Hutchins' court-martial is
scheduled to begin today. Jackson and four other
defendants have finalized plea agreements that gave them lighter prison
sentences in exchange for their testimony against the remaining defendants. Last week, a court-martial
jury dismissed Cpl. Trent Thomas from the Marine Corps and demoted him to the
rank of private. It spared him a prison sentence for his role in the
Hamdaniya killing. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070724-9999-1m24magin.html |