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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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July 5th,
2010 - Marine Convicted of Killing Iraqi Civilian Back on Duty at Camp
Pendleton |
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Marine Convicted
of Killing Iraqi Civilian Back on Duty at Camp Pendleton Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, who served four years in prison until his
court-martial verdict was overturned and is now being appealed by the
military, talks candidly about his experiences - and his hopes. By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times July 5, 2010 Reporting from Oceanside,
Calif. - Asked to describe his four years behind bars for killing an unarmed
Iraqi, Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III recites the opening stanza of the
poem "Invictus": "Out of the night that
covers me Black as the Pit from pole
to pole I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable
soul." If Hutchins, 26, is
ultimately freed to return to his native Massachusetts and his 6-year-old
daughter, he should also thank his lawyers and the military appeals court
system. In 2007, he was sentenced to
15 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge after being convicted of
unpremeditated murder. Prosecutors convinced a military court that Hutchins
was the leader of a misguided plot to stop roadside bomb attacks on Marines.
In the process, the group seized an Iraqi civilian, executed him and then
lied about the circumstances, the court found. After he was sent to the
military prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., a general cut Hutchins' sentence to
11 years. On April 22, the Navy-Marine
Corps Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the court-martial verdict on the
grounds that Hutchins was denied a fair trial because one of his military
attorneys left the case on the eve of trial. The military is appealing that
decision. Even if the Court of Appeals
for the Armed Forces refuses to reinstate the guilty verdict, another general
could still order a second trial. Another option is for the military to walk
away from the high-profile case and discharge Hutchins. Two weeks ago, a military
judge at Camp Pendleton ordered Hutchins released from the brig, where he had
been transferred after the April 22 ruling. His rank has been restored
and he has been assigned to duty in the logistics office while he awaits the
next step in the legal process, which could take months. For the first time
since being arrested in Iraq in 2006 and returned to Camp Pendleton in
handcuffs and leg irons, Hutchins was allowed to talk to reporters last week. During an interview at the
home of a retired Marine captain, Hutchins was articulate, candid and
unfailingly polite. He spoke, in a slight Boston accent, of his failed
marriage, the Marine Corps, his co-defendants and the prison system - but on
the advice of his attorney, Capt. Babu Kaza, he declined to discuss the
details of the killing or the legal case. At Leavenworth, he found
solace in reading: Shakespeare (particularly "Merchant of Venice,"
and the character of Antonio, a symbol of unwavering friendship and loyalty),
the novels of John Steinbeck ("East of Eden," with its biblical
symbolism, is his favorite), the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius and the poetry
of Robert Frost, Lord Byron, "Invictus" author William Ernest
Henley, Rudyard Kipling ("If," of course), and others. Now he's reading an
anthology of motivational poetry, a history of the Vietnam War and Steven
Pressfield's novelistic treatment of Alexander the Great, "The Afghan
Campaign." In prison, he corresponded
with Bing West, a former Marine, former assistant secretary of Defense and
chronicler of Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. West wrote a letter seeking
clemency for Hutchins and has encouraged him to write about his experiences
in Iraq and in prison. Hutchins said he found
prison a place full of hopelessness and danger. He was attacked by another
prisoner and lost part of an ear. Still, he said he has no ill feeling toward
the Marine Corps. "The Marine Corps is an
institution and a brotherhood," he said. "The institution will
sacrifice one of its own to save the institution. The brotherhood will
sacrifice itself to save one of its own." And to which part does
Hutchins feel he belongs? "The brotherhood." While being held in the brig
at Camp Pendleton awaiting court-martial, Hutchins married the mother of his
daughter. After he was convicted and sent to Leavenworth, the marriage fell
apart. "My wife lost
hope," he said. He would like to reunite
with the six Marines and the Navy corpsman who were in his squad that fateful
night, all of whom were either convicted or pleaded guilty of various
charges. "They're great guys," he said. "I want them to be
part of my life." None of them remain in detention. Hutchins was a high school
senior when the 9/11 terrorists attacked the twin towers and the Pentagon.
The attacks convinced him to forgo college and enlist in the Marine Corps,
like his father, uncle and grandfather. In early 2006, he deployed
with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment to Iraq's Anbar province, west of
Baghdad. He was a newly promoted sergeant and squad leader. After weeks of dodging
roadside bombs, he and his fellow Marines decided that their lives were in
danger because of the rules of engagement issued by superiors. Suspected
insurgents were being arrested but quickly released for lack of evidence. "In Hamandiya, there
were never firefights, (but) we were just being blown up all the time,
sometimes six times a day," Hutchins said. According to court-martial
testimony, Hutchins' squad decided to kill a suspected insurgent as a warning
to others. The plan went haywire, though, when their original target could
not be located; instead, they chose a neighbor, a retired police officer
under the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. The 52-year-old Iraqi was
kidnapped, bound and shot to death. Marines placed an AK-47 and shell casings
near the body to suggest a firefight. Hutchins' role as the leader was
confirmed by testimony and he was given the longest sentence; none of the
others served more than 18 months. One of Hutchins'
co-defendants testified that the Marines were forced into their actions
because the rules of engagement left them vulnerable to repeated attacks.
Another told reporters that he is convinced the actions of the eight
co-defendants saved Marines' lives by discouraging attacks. (Marine commanders
acknowledge that attacks against troops decreased in the months after the
April 26, 2006, killing. However, it remains unclear whether that drop was a
result of the execution or other circumstances.) At various times in the
court proceedings, Hutchins expressed regret for the killing. Now, he wants to return home
to Massachusetts, take the job he's been offered as an emergency medical
technician with the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department and help his parents
pay off the legal bills from his civilian lawyers. "I'm not some
warmonger, I'm just a regular guy," he said. "I'm just a guy who
came home from war after doing what he had to do, what he thought was
right." External link: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/05/local/la-me-leavenworth-marine-20100705 |