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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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August 3rd,
2007 - Marine Gets 15 years in Iraqi’s Death News article by the Associated
Press |
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Marine Gets 15 years in
Iraqi’s Death By Thomas Watkins Associated Press August 3, 2007 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
jury sentenced a Marine sergeant Friday to 15 years in prison for the murder
of an Iraqi civilian during a fruitless search for an insurgent. Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins
III also was dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank to private and given a
written reprimand. Hutchins stood at attention
and looked straight ahead as his sentence was announced. He then sat down,
briefly put his head on the table in front of him and looked up with red
eyes. His wife, Reyna Hutchins,
burst into tears, and other relatives appeared stunned, with his mother
slumping in her chair. On Thursday, Hutchins became
the first and only member of an eight-member squad to be convicted of murder
in the killing. He had been charged with
premeditated murder, but jurors struck premeditation from the verdict,
meaning Hutchins no longer faced a mandatory life sentence. Testimony from several of
his comrades pointed to him as the mastermind of the plot to kidnap and kill
a suspected insurgent. The Iraqi civilian was
pulled from his Hamdania home in April 2006 and shot in a hole. An AK-47 and
shovel were placed nearby to make him look like an insurgent planting a bomb,
according to the prosecution. Unlike several of his squad
mates, Hutchins never expressed remorse, saying he believed he was doing what
his superiors wanted. "I think that had a
significant impact on the jury," Hutchins' attorney Rich Brannon said.
"We had a tragic mistake, although I think it was command-influenced,
and I think it is very difficult emotionally for Larry to deal with that
mistake." Brannon said he would ask
Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general who has jurisdiction over
Hutchins, to review the sentence. Hutchins, of Plymouth,
Mass., also was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, making a false
official statement and larceny. He was acquitted of kidnapping, assault and
housebreaking. Testimony showed the victim
was kidnapped and killed when the squad couldn't find the suspected
insurgent. Prosecutors previously
identified the victim as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52. The name, however, was
dropped from charge sheets. All eight members of the
squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping. Four lower-ranking Marines
and a Navy corpsman cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for their
testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison. Earlier in the day, a
separate jury sentenced a Marine corporal to time served and reduced his rank
to private for conspiring to murder an Iraqi civilian. Cpl. Marshall Magincalda,
24, has already served 448 days in custody and was to be freed Friday. "I was very happy that
I got a fair trial," Magincalda said after his sentencing. "I feel
really good, and I feel proud to serve as a Marine." Magincalda was acquitted of
murder but found guilty of larceny and housebreaking, and was cleared of
making a false official statement. Magincalda was not accused
of firing a shot but was charged for taking part in the plot. Because the jury did not
give him a punitive discharge, Magincalda will retain military benefits,
including treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression that
his psychiatrist testified was triggered by three combat tours and
confinement in the brig. He said he wants to
re-enlist in the Marine Corps. If he is rejected, he said, he will join his
family in Manteca to help his father run a ranch. The Marine said he'd had a
difficult time in the brig, which he referred to as the "Camp Pendleton
Hotel," but had received a lot of support from the public. "It's been a horrible
experience out there; I haven't felt good," Magincalda said. "All
the support I received ... that kept me going." Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman
for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Magincalda's sentence
would be seen by many as a light one. "People around the
world and people in Iraq will be monitoring these kinds of trials to see if
what they regard as justice is being done," Hooper said. "If there is a
perception that our soldiers can commit these crimes and only get a slap on
the wrist, that's not going to send a very good message," he said. A jury last month acquitted
another corporal of murder but convicted him of conspiracy to commit murder
and kidnapping. According to testimony, Cpl. Trent Thomas of Madison, Ill.,
had greater involvement in the killing than Magincalda. Thomas was sentenced
to a reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge but no prison time. The squad was pulled from
the battlefield after the slaying. © 2007 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5026118.html No jail for corporal in
Hamdania killing By Teri Figueroa North County Times August 3, 2007 11:00 AM PDT Camp Pendleton - A Marine
corporal guilty of conspiring to kill an Iraqi was sentenced to a reduction
in rank and time served this morning, meaning today he will walk out of a
Camp Pendleton jail and back into Marine life. Cpl. Marshall Magincalda,
who was in on a plot to kill the man but admitted that he did not actually
shoot him, hugged his crying family after his sentence was read. "I get to go
home," said the 24-year-old Magincalda, whose rank will be reduced to
private. "I'm still in the Marine Corps. I didn't get discharged." Magincalda is the second Marine
sentenced to time served - in his case it was 448 days. The squad's leader,
Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, is awaiting sentencing on murder charges. Five others
pleaded guilty and received jail sentences. Although Magincalda could
have been sentenced to life in prison for his conviction for conspiracy to
commit murder, larceny and housebreaking, prosecutors on Thursday asked the
jury to send him to jail for 10 years. But the jury, made up
entirely of veterans of the Iraq war, rejected jail, opting to allow
Magincalda to stay in the Marine Corps. The Manteca native served in
Iraq three times, including vicious firefights in Fallujah where he saw his
buddies die. On Thursday, Magincalda's psychiatrist testified that Magincalda
suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Two weeks ago, a jury also
rejected jail time for one of Magincalda's accused squad mates, even though
that man had faced up to life in prison for his conviction for kidnapping and
conspiracy. A jury is still deciding on
a sentence for Hutchins, who was convicted Thursday of murder and other
charges in the same incident. Prosecutors in that case want the squad leader
to go to military prison for 30 years. He is the first Marine convicted of
murder by a military jury for killing an Iraqi since the start of the war. Hutchins' jury began
deliberating his fate this morning. In a courtroom two buildings
down, as he listened to his own sentence, Magincalda said his thoughts were
with Hutchins. "My mind was on other
matters," Magincalda said. "I have a buddy who's going through dire
straits right now." Magincalda's attorney
refused to allow his client to answer a handful of particular media
questions, including what Magincalda might have done differently on April 26,
2006, the night he and his squad mates yanked the neighbor of a highly
suspected Iraqi insurgent out of bed and shot him to death in the rural
village of Hamdania. According to testimony, the
crew did it to send a message to those in the area that insurgency would not
be tolerated. Civilian attorney Joseph Low
also refused to let Magincalda say whether he believed what the eight troops
did that night saved lives, whether the message got through and whether it
reduced the number of attacks on U.S. troops in the Hamdania area. But Magincalda did say why
he refused to take a plea deal, even though five of his squad mates struck
deals that gave them reduced sentences in exchange for testifying against the
other accused in the case. "I was not going to
save myself to maybe, possibly bury another Marine," Magincalda said,
adding that he does not fault the men who took deals and that he remains
friends with them. Two months after the slaying
of the man, Hashim Ibrahim Awad, the Marine Corps charged the Camp
Pendleton-based squad of seven Marines and one Navy corpsman with murder and
a host of other charges. The charges in the Hamdania
case came three months after a Time magazine story on the deaths of 24
civilians by a different squad of Marines in Haditha sparked an internal
military inquiry and an international furor. That group of men is also
stationed at Camp Pendleton. Court proceedings are pending in those cases. The battalion commander
overseeing the squad in the Hamdania case has testified that complaints from
the family of the slain Awad, coupled with the Haditha inquiry, led him to
investigate Awad's slaying. Magincalda spent the last 15
months in the brig. He was supposed to get out of the Marine Corps last fall,
but his active duty tour was extended by the military while he fought the
criminal charges. He has another five months left in the Marine Corps. He said he wants to
re-enlist and would even go back to Iraq if asked. "I did my time (in the
brig)," Magincalda said. "If the Marine Corps is willing to keep
me, I am willing to stay on." External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/03/news/top_stories/1_01_358_1_07.txt |