Posted on 04/22/2010 6:16:54 PM PDT by Saoirise
A military appeals court on Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a Camp Pendleton Marine who had been found guilty of leading his squad in the 2006 kidnapping and slaying of an Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania. The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals said Thursday that it made the ruling because an attorney for Sgt. Larry Hutchins' was improperly dismissed prior to the man's 2007 trial. That act alone is sufficient to set aside Hutchins' conviction for the April 2006 incident and erase his 11-year prison sentence, the nine-member court found. "I'm just so happy," said Hutchins' mother, Kathy, when reached at her Boston-area home Thursday afternoon. "After everything that's happened, I just can't believe it." Hutchins, 26, was told of the court decision during a telephone call from his attorney, Marine Capt. S. Babu Kaza. "He is pretty happy," Kaza said. "He was surprised to get good news because it's really the first time it's happened since he got put in confinement." Hutchins has been serving his sentence at the U.S. military prison in Leavenworth, Kan. Thursday's ruling means he will likely be released and reinstated as a sergeant while prosecutors review their options. Hutchins was reduced in rank to private after he was convicted. The office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy can appeal the ruling or send the case back to Camp Pendleton for a rehearing before a new convening authority. The latter would put Hutchins' fate in the hands of Lt. Gen.Joseph Dunford, who has the option of ordering a new hearing that could lead to a fresh prosecution. Kaza said he is highly doubtful that will happen.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
F A N T A S T I C NEWS
First the news on Navy Seal Heuertas Wed and now this today. Sec Nav Mabus must be ahving a bad day.
FYI-If you’re following Hamdania
Thanks for the ping, I just finished reading the article.
Very Good News for Larry Hutchins and his family, let’s pray they let this decision stand and end the persecution.
Great news
"That's tainted the entire military justice system as it applies to Larry," Kaza said.
I'll say! Talk about poisoning the well for any 'fair' hearings in the future. Mabus' comments could be considered undue command influence wouldn't they?
I cannot comprehend what is going on in the military legal community. Military Justice has a long history of supporting the chain of command, underpinning the tenents of good order and discipline, and protecting the rights of both soldiers and commmanders. It is a difficult course to steer and can only avoid fatal shoals when implemented by those whose answer to a higher calling of Duty, Honor, Country.
I do not know what has come of it, perhaps too much exposure to NCIS and JAG, but whatever it is, the system is but a shadow of its former self. I was a commander who believed in the UCMJ, and used it to ensure that justice was served. Sometimes that meant that soldiers presented to me for non-judicial punishment walked away exonerated. The facts must be allowed to stand and they lead the way. The same was true for Courts-Martial. When the facts were clear, and the charges proved, fair punishment must follow. But when the chain of command, the government, or others in authority could not make their case, acquittal was required. This was and is a commanders responsibility and I regret that all too often today courts of appeal must do what commanders should have done.
This is great news. I’m SO happy for Larry, and his family.
Evan’s next. I just got done reading the Appeal brief. They hammer it home.
This is Great News too, bhf. Coming from you I know that's the straight stuff. Thanks!
Update
Here’s the latest on Larry, he’s to be held in Leavenworth at least 30 more days:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_c550cce9-380b-504e-a3bf-4d26baa2de23.html
Ping to 12. Does something smell here? Why are they still holding this Marine at that hellhole Leavenworth?
OH something smells here to be sure. This whole thing stinks up one end of command and down the other.
BTW - This Marine is a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, and so say 9 Appeals Court Judges.
Dismissed murder conviction setback for military
The government has to decide within 30 days whether to appeal or seek a new trial or the Camp Pendleton Marine will go free.
snip
Hutchins' appellate defense counsel, Marine Capt. S. Babu Kaza, said the court determined the error denied Hutchins a fair trial by relinquishing a highly respected military attorney who had spent three years on the case and had knowledge that was critical to the outcome, which would have proven his innocence.
"As a matter of law, they have no basis to appeal," Kaza said.
He said Hutchins already was found not guilty of breaking into the home of Hashim Ibrahim Awad or kidnapping him because he was not with the squad, which radioed Hutchins to tell him they had shot a man they believed to be an insurgent leader, Kaza said. Hutchins, he said, learned of the mistake after the investigation.
Hutchins, 26, has spent nearly four years in prison. The others in his squad served less than 18 months in jail.
>> Evan’s next. I just got done reading the Appeal brief. They hammer it home.
Prayers up bhf.
This statement sums it up for what Larry, and the rest of the boots on the ground encountered in pre-surge Iraq:
The case was particularly troubling because it demonstrated a serious breakdown in Marine Corps leadership and tied it to murder, said Lt. Col. Paul Hackett, a judge advocate in the Marine Corps reserve.
And guess who the Military Commander in Iraq during that time was was? General George effing Casey!
General George William Casey, Jr., USA (born July 22, 1948) is an American Army officer and the 36th and current Chief of Staff of the United States Army. He has served in the Army for his entire adult working life. General Casey previously served as Commanding General, Multi-National Force - Iraq from June 2004 to February 8, 2007.
The Marine Commander was the inept Major General Richard Zilmer who lost Fallujah and Anbar before the surge..
“The most senior US Marine commander in Iraq has been forced to downplay a secret intelligence report which asserted that the United States had “lost” Anbar province, the main heartland of Sunni resistance to the US occupation.
Very sad way to treat him. Thanks for the update.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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