Posted on 07/12/2004 1:24:34 PM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
Woman in Abu Ghraib Case Appears in Court By ESTES THOMPSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) -
Pfc. Lynndie England, the Army reservist at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse case, was read her rights in military court Monday and given a date of Aug. 3 for a hearing on whether she is to face a court-martial.
England appeared in court for the five-minute hearing, held before Col. Denise Arn, who is the judge - or "investigating officer," in military parlance - presiding over her case.
Dressed in a jungle-green camouflage Army uniform and visibly pregnant, England answered "Yes, ma'am" when Arn asked if she understood her rights and "No, ma'am" when she was asked if she had any questions.
England was accompanied by Rick Hernandez of Denver, her lead civilian attorney.
Arn granted a request by Hernandez to have Army Capt. John Crisp join England's defense team. Crisp monitored the hearing by telephone from Fort Jackson, S.C., but did not say anything.
The hearing to determine whether England faces a court martial, at which witnesses are to be called and evidence presented, originally was scheduled to begin Monday. But the defense requested a delay last week, which meant that the hearing Monday was only to deal with procedural matters.
England, 21, is charged with 13 counts of abusing prisoners. Last week, an additional five charges were added against her, stemming from "the creation and possession of sexually explicit photographs" and indecent acts, according to the Army.
The latest photographs do not involve Iraqi prisoners, the Army has said.
Army spokesman Maj. Richard Patterson, an Army spokesman, said Monday that a sixth charge had also been added last week, accusing England of failing to obey an order from a noncommissioned officer.
Since being brought back to the United States, England has been assigned to a desk job at a military police brigade office at Fort Bragg.
Photos taken at the Abu Ghraib prison that were made public in May show the reservist from Fort Ashby, W.Va., pointing at naked detainees and flashing a cocky thumbs-up at the camera.
The photos enraged much of the Arab world and shocked many people in the United States.
England's attorneys have said she was following orders when the prisoner photos were taken.
They have said their witness list of nearly 100 people would include Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, along with top generals.
England, a support specialist, is one of six soldiers charged in the scandal. One, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a year in prison. All seven soldiers charged in the abuse scandal are from the 372nd Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit from Cresaptown, Md.
Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr., 35, another soldier in England's unit, also has been charged with abuses and was involved in a romantic relationship with England; he faces adultery charges for allegedly having sex with England last October.
Her lawyers have said England is pregnant with Graner's child.
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Hehehe, I don't believe you can call the SecDef and the VP in a military court martial... but even if she can, this West Virginia white trash is going to discover that these are men you do not want as enemies.
Rumsfeld might be deposed, but he won't have to appear.
Cheney and Rumsfeld would not be helpful witnesses.
The only way she could call them is if someone said one of them told them to do the acts. The chain of command does not include the VP, so I don't see any reason to bring him into the picture.
Personally, I think this 'chain' will end at a pretty low level officer.
"England, a support specialist, is one of six soldiers charged in the scandal. One, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a year in prison. All seven soldiers charged in the abuse scandal are from the 372nd Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit from Cresaptown, Md.
Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr., 35, another soldier in England's unit, also has been charged with abuses and was involved in a romantic relationship with England; he faces adultery charges for allegedly having sex with England last October.
Her lawyers have said England is pregnant with Graner's child."
Well this is certainly not the innocent little angel her family told us about. The addition of untrained in a war effort is not pretty...this is no exception.
What do you figure they would do to her?
Don't mess with Donald. He knows his karate.
White Axe Hand
Grimace Palm
Viper Fang
Drunken Temple Boxing
Forgive me while I digress a moment... she went to her court-martial hearing in camoflauge fatigues? They make maternity uniforms, why wasn't she in one?
A Marine would not be caught dead in that situation in anything but his/her best Charlie uniform, nicely pressed with ribbon and badges.
We now go back to our regularly scheduled programming...
In this case does MP stand for Miltary Police or Mall Patrol?
I noticed it also. I wonder if she was under pretrial restraint or something?
That would explain it. I don't remember if she's in pretrial confinement or not.
She apparently can't resist pointing her finger at Dick.
Moore already offer her a movie deal?
It wasn't the Bush administration that started the moral decline in the military. Don't ask don't tell is a Clinton disaster. The moral decline hangs over his head.
There is speculation that a Moore movie deal may have been what all of the pictures were about.
She looks like Danny Partridge.
Um...
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