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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 18th,
2009 - ‘Pendleton 8’ Figure Protests Loss of Attorney |
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‘Pendleton 8’ Figure Protests
Loss of Attorney Attorney’s departure from legal team now part of appellate review By Mark Walker North County Times August 18, 2009 Camp Pendleton - A Marine
convicted in the 2006 killing of an Iraqi man he suspected was an insurgent
said Tuesday he didn't know that one of his attorneys, who departed on the
eve of his trial, could have been ordered to remain at his defense table. Former Sgt. and now Pvt.
Larry Hutchins III took the stand and testified under oath for the first time,
telling a military judge that he would have considered asking the attorney,
former Marine Capt. Gabriel Bass, to put off his scheduled retirement. "I joined to be a grunt
and that's what I was," Hutchins testified during a hearing ordered by
the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals to determine whether Bass was
improperly removed. "How would I have known to raise the issue that I
could keep Captain Bass?" Hutchins spent about 35
minutes on the stand, testifying in a calm and even voice that he had
established a good rapport with Bass and had believed the attorney would
remain on his legal team after his retirement date, which came a few weeks
before the trial. "I figured he would
come back," the 25-year-old native of Plymouth, Mass., said. "I was
very surprised not to see him there." Hutchins did not testify at
the July 2007 trial where he was convicted of murder, conspiracy and
kidnapping. Prosecutors contend Bass was
replaced by an experienced trial attorney and that Hutchins never protested
Bass's removal and, therefore, no error was committed. Hutchins is the key figure
in the so-called "Pendleton 8" case involving six other Marines and
a Navy corpsman he led in the Iraqi village of Hamdania during the height of
the Iraq war. Each man from the 3rd
Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment squad was charged with murder and related
offenses in the April 2006 incident. Five pleaded guilty to a
variety of reduced charges and were free by mid-2007. Two others were
convicted at trial but sentenced to time served while awaiting trial.
Hutchins was the only man sentenced to prison, initially receiving a 15-year
term that has since been reduced to 11 years. Attorneys are now working to
have his conviction set aside, arguing among other things that the release of
Bass was improper and is grounds to order a new trial. Tuesday's hearing was
ordered by the appellate court to gather more information on that aspect of
the appeal. The base courtroom was
filled with supporters of Hutchins, who was returned to Camp Pendleton last
week from the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. "I'm here to show my
support for Larry because I believe in him and I believe he got a bad deal,"
said Skip Franklin. "He was trained to do a job and he did it." Hutchins' parents, Larry and
Kathi, also were in the courtroom. They said base officials have relaxed
rules so they can visit their son in the evenings before he is returned to
Kansas to await word on his appeal. Kathi Hutchins said that
several of her son's original co-defendants attempted to visit him on Sunday,
but were turned away by brig officials. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_7d089d7c-ea4d-5d49-9ef5-ac8f62710b49.html |