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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 15th,
2009 - Anguish Continues for Parents of Convicted Marine |
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Anguish Continues
for Parents of Convicted Marine Larry and Kathi Hutchins strive to win son’s release By Mark Walker North County Times August 15, 2009 Larry and Kathi Hutchins are
still in a nightmarish world that began in 2006 when they learned their son
and his squad of Camp Pendleton Marines were charged with kidnapping and
killing an Iraqi civilian. "It's been hard because
we haven't been able to protect our child," Kathi Hutchins said during
an interview just outside the military base's gates Friday. "But we'll
be there forever for him." On Tuesday, former Sgt. and
now Pvt. Larry Hutchins III is due back inside a Camp Pendleton courtroom for
the first time since he was convicted in August 2007 of murder, conspiracy,
larceny and making false official statements. He is the only man among the
eight men charged in the case who wound up in prison. It's nearly bankrupted
his parents, they say, and resulted in their son's divorce from the mother of
his only child, a woman he married while awaiting trial. "We've lost our first
son, our first daughter-in-law and our first grandchild," Kathi Hutchins
said. Hutchins has been serving
his time at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. His initial
sentence of 15 years was reduced to 11 years, and his attorneys are working
to have the conviction thrown out or to win his early release. Hutchins, 25, was brought
back to Camp Pendleton last week for a hearing to determine whether one of
his military attorneys was improperly dismissed from the case before it went
to trial. An appellate court reviewing the conviction ordered the hearing as
part of its deliberations. When the hearing ends, Hutchins will be sent back
to Fort Leavenworth. His parents flew from Boston
to San Diego on Thursday, but were denied access to the brig until this
weekend. Brig officials, they said, told them that despite their long
journey, they could only see their son during regular visiting hours from
12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. That left Kathi Hutchins in
tears. "We traveled 3,000
miles and we were only asking to see our son," she said. "I haven't
seen him in nine months. I just wanted to be able to hold him, and I feel
like they've just slammed the door in our faces." Larry Hutchins, a bus
mechanic, said he was outraged the brig wouldn't waive its rules. "They just seem to make
everything so hard," he said. The case Hutchins is the only man
behind bars, though he was among six other Marines and a Navy corpsman
charged with kidnapping and killing an Iraqi man they believed was an
insurgent responsible for roadside bombings in the village of Hamdania in the
spring of 2006. Five of the group dubbed the
"Pendleton 8" pleaded guilty to a variety of reduced charges and
were free by mid-2007. Two others from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment
squad were convicted at trial but sentenced to time served while awaiting
trial. A cadre of supporters that
includes retired Marine Capt. Don Greenlaw of Oceanside continues to stand by
the family, paying for Hutchins' parents' trip to Fort Leavenworth at
Christmas and this weekend's trip to Camp Pendleton. "We don't even know a
lot of these people, but they continue to stand with us and understand that
our son was a true-blue Marine," Kathi Hutchins said. One of those working to secure
Hutchins' release is Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., who represents the
Hutchins' Boston-area congressional district. Delahunt appeared before a
parole panel earlier this year and helped persuade four of the five members
to recommend Hutchins' sentence be shortened to five years. Former Secretary
of the Navy Donald Winter rejected the panel's advice. Frustrations Kathi Hutchins said she has
spent many sleepless nights wondering why her son is the only one sitting in
prison. "Every single one of
these boys had the same charges," she said, shaking her head. Generals who reviewed his
case and had the power to reduce the sentence said that because he was the
squad leader, he had the most culpability for what happened. Kathi Hutchins spoke of her
son's Catholic upbringing, recalling how a second-grade teacher called the
family one night to praise their son, and how a district attorney who met
with her son as a seventh-grader told them there was no question he would
make his mark in the world. Larry Hutchins spoke of
their youngest son, Kurt, a corrections officer who often is asked how his
brother is doing. "We sometimes try and
set it aside, but it's always there," he said. "We're always being
reminded of it and not a day goes by that we don't get asked about it or
think about it." Kathi Hutchins said that for
months after her son's conviction, members of his squad would call, sometimes
late at night and sometimes very drunk. "I'm happy for them,
but I am jealous because they're all free, they've been able to move
on," she said. "But I eventually told them all to move on, to go in
peace with God." ‘Rot in jail’ Their son has had his ups
and downs at Fort Leavenworth, his parents said. He took some classes and
trained to be a barber. But he also got into a fight with another inmate and
sometimes says he feels lost and abandoned, they said. "He says he will rot in
jail if he has to because he didn't do anything other than what he was
ordered to do," Kathi Hutchins said. "He says he wouldn't say he
did anything wrong if he was told doing so would allow him to walk out of
prison." Sometimes, she said, her son
says he has given up on God. "But I tell him not
to," she said. "God is still sending him angels like Captain
Greenlaw, Congressman Delahunt and his attorneys." The Hutchinses say they will
relish every minute with their son and wanted to be in court this week to be
able to be close to him for as long as possible. The toll the case has taken
is there, but the couple say they are resilient. "We're all right, but
it hasn't been easy to be all right," Larry Hutchins said. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_fc55a7b7-37a6-553d-a6f5-693fe9350d0d.html |