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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 28th,
2007 - Lawyer Defending Marine Wants to Return to Hamdania |
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Lawyer Defending Marine in
Iraqi Man’s Death Wants to Return to Hamdania to Investigate By Thomas Watkins Associated Press February 28, 2007 Camp Pendleton – The lawyer
for a Marine squad leader accused of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi
civilian wants to return to Iraq to gather more evidence and interview
possible witnesses. Rich Brannon said he planned
to ask a judge Wednesday for permission to return to the Middle East to
further investigate the death of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad. Brannon's client, Sgt.
Lawrence G. Hutchins III, was the leader of an eight-man squad who
prosecutors say kidnapped and killed Awad after they were unable to find an
Iraqi insurgent they suspected of planting bombs. Brannon recently traveled
with other attorneys to the town of Hamdania, on the outskirts of Fallujah,
where Awad was killed last spring. But dangerous conditions undermined the
effort, which the lawyers had hoped would produce evidence Awad had been a
terrorist and the Marines were justified in their actions. The attorneys have said they
only got about 20 minutes on the ground. Joseph Low, an attorney for
Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, who faces murder and kidnapping charges, said the
government also has classified information about Awad's past and he intends
to file a motion to allow that evidence in court. An investigator with the
Naval Criminal Investigative Service, called in by the military after the
killing last April, testified Tuesday at a hearing for Hutchins that the
squad leader had denied killing Awad but fired three shots into his head to
make sure he was dead. “Hutchins said that he put
three rounds in the guy's head,” Special Agent James Connolly testified. “I
was kind of taken aback.” Connolly said Hutchins
volunteered the information as the two men walked to the scene of the
shooting. At that time, Hutchins was not under suspicion and Connolly said he
was looking for evidence to corroborate the Marine's account that the killing
was lawful. Marine Cpl. Trent D. Thomas,
the squad's second in command, previously testified that Marines opened fire
on Awad before Hutchins went to make sure he was dead. Thomas pleaded guilty
to murder but withdrew the plea, saying Hutchins, of Plymouth, Mass., ordered
him to take part. Prosecutors called Connolly
as a witness in response to a defense motion to keep Hutchins' statements out
of his upcoming court-martial. Four Marines and a Navy
corpsman who pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the case have said Hutchins
masterminded the killing, and several said he fired the fatal shots. Squad members have testified
that Awad was forced into a hole and shot, and that the squad then tried to
cover it up by placing an AK-47 and shovel by his body to make it look like
he was an insurgent planting a bomb. Connolly said Marine
higher-ups initially told him they thought the death had been a lawful
killing, and that local Iraqis and family members who said Awad was dragged
from his home were lying to get compensation. Still, the Marines wanted a
thorough investigation, Connolly testified. Highly publicized probes into a
separate incident, where a different squad was suspected of killing up to 24
Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha, made Marines concerned “the right
things were done” in investigating Awad's killing, the agent said. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070228-0606-marines-iraqshooting.html |