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HAMDANIA: The PENDLETON 8: OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS TELL A DIFFERENT STORY WHEN COMPARED TO THE MEDIA ACCOUNTS. WHY? (A) WHAT WERE THE CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING UP TO THE PATROL THAT NIGHT? WERE THEY COMMON EVENTS OR WAS THIS A SPECIAL PATROL TO SEARCH OUT A SPECIFIC PERSON AS THE OFFICIAL CHARGES CLAIMED? The government's case was that the patrol lead by Sgt Hutchin's, Plymouth, Massachusetts, was after a specific insurgent named Saleh Gowad, and when he was not found at the location of his house, a random house was chosen and an innocent man was taken and killed. Make sure that you...

We pick up now where we left off in the timeline of events surrounding the incident that put far too many Marines in prison for killing the enemy. If you didn’t see Part 1 yesterday, you can find it here. January 18, 2007: Marine Pleads Guilty to Iraqi Kidnap, Murder “The Marine said ‘Someone’ fired a shot,” and then he and the others in the squad opened fire. Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III went up to the victim to make sure he was dead, [Cpl Trent] Thomas said. “Sgt. Hutchins shot Mr. Awad with a three-round burst to the head...

To All, After two years, the real story of the Pendleton 8 is finally coming out. A select few are in possession of the documents that show not only the actual events of that night in Hamdania, but the trail of corruption, incompetence, and blatant disregard for the lives of Marines under fire that resulted in unjust imprisonment and convictions or plea bargains for so many men. It's all on paper, it's all verified, and it's all coming out. The documents and the story they tell will be appearing on Euphoric Reality beginning today with the first installment: Part 1...

The letter below is from one of the Marines whose team I am on who have been involved with the Hamdania Incident, both in fundraising and exposure to the public of information that the media has refused to cover, and that includes all conservative media like FOX News, NEWSMAX, World Net Daily, Ollie North, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Howie Carr. Some of them can be forgiven due to the large amount of e-mails received daily, but others were given extensive telephone interviews, with details, and some of them outright refused to consider this as an issue because it would not...

There is a documentary being made on the abuses that the 7 Marines and 1 Navy Corpsman faced when accused of Murder in 2006, from an operation in Iraq. Below is a timeline of events and links to the documentary teasers.

CAMP PENDLETON - On the legal front, the last 12 months have been a trying time for the Marine Corps. While most troops went about the business of training and deploying to battlegrounds in Iraq and Afghanistan or spent months on expeditionary cruises, a series of hearings and trials involving men accused of committing murder or being derelict in duty in Iraq dominated much of the news coming out of Camp Pendleton, the service's premier West Coast base. It was also a year in which the service cracked down on drill instructors at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San...

A Marine dictum holds that when things go well, the squad leader deserves credit and when they go badly, he most assuredly will get the blame. Indeed, in the three major cases...the major defendant is the squad leader. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich awaits a general's decision on whether he will be ordered to court martial for allegedly killing civilians in Haditha in 2005. Former Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario is facing trial in federal court in Riverside for allegedly killing prisoners in Fallouja in 2004. And Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins was...convicted by a Marine jury of killing an unarmed Iraqi in Hamandiya...

Monday, August 27, 2007 Betrayal: IVAW and the Haditha Marines - Part 3 in the Haditha Series We’ve gotten used to the media taking potshots at the military. It has become a regular day to day occurrence. Reports from Iraq reveal that our soldiers are too busy doing their jobs to pay much attention to the blathering from the armchair generals in the media - thank goodness. But when the knife in your back is thrown by your “brothers”, it has got to hurt. John Murtha, the ex-Marine, threw the first knife but he was certainly not the last. The...

NORTH COUNTY ---- Jury decisions and a powerful general's grants of clemency have signaled that Marines may be reluctant to jail service members accused of war crimes in Iraq. Few saw it coming when the military justice system granted freedom to most of the eight Camp Pendleton troops who admitted to kidnapping and killing an Iraqi man in Hamdania last year. Former Marine prosecutor Thad Coakley was among those caught off guard. "The sentences were well below what is expected for the guilty findings for a group that decide to kidnap and execute a guy," said Coakley, who has extensive...

They didn’t get the case right (Hutchins is squad leader for the Pendleton 8, not the Haditha Marines), but at this point, I’m just happy someone is finally paying attention at all. The Marine veterans discussed in this article are the ones I’ve been working with for the last year and a half both directly and indirectly. I’m glad the story is finally getting out. ~snip~ (The meat of the story is at the link. Heavy hors devours offered below.)

Pvt. Robert Pennington CAMP PENDLETON ---- The seventh of eight Marines jailed for the execution of an Iraqi man left the brig Friday afternoon, freed by a Camp Pendleton general. Pvt. Robert Pennington walked free after Lt. Gen. James Mattis granted him clemency, slashing the remaining seven years off Pennington's eight-year sentence. Pennington struck a lengthy plea deal earlier this year, admitting his role in a plot that left an Iraqi man dead on the side of a road in the rural village of Hamdania on April 26, 2006. His family said Friday they were overjoyed with the decision...

Aug-09-2007 05:40 Advocates Call Iraq Marine's Court Martial and Conviction Into Question Tim King Salem-News.comFormer Marines investigating the case say there is far more than meets the eye; the court martial is currently under appeal and review. Photo of Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins with his lawyerCourtesy: DoD (SALEM, Ore.) - A Marine convicted for murder in Iraq is receiving increasing public support by those who believe he is not guilty. Marine Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins has been sentenced to 15-years for the killings in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. Friends say Hutchins is innocent Advocates say a number of the government's...

Cpl Rob Pennington is now a free man. He recently took a plea bargain for a murder charge, testified against his fellow Marines, and is not free. Only Sgt Hutchin's is in Jail. 8 Men, all charged with Murder, Kidnapping, Assault, whatever...now one is left in jail, the rest are free. That doesn't happen if they had evidence.

PLYMOUTH (MA) - The parents of Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III met with the head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East this week in the wake of their son’s conviction for killing an Iraqi civilian. Larry and Kathy Hutchins asked Lt. Gen James Mattis to look into inconsistencies that emerged during their son’s recent court martial and consider evidence that never made it to the trial. According to Tim Harrington, a friend of the Hutchins family, Mattis promised to review the record of the trial and determine if the Manomet native got a fair hearing. Larry and Kathy Hutchins...

CAMP PENDLETON – A general has cut short the sentences of two Marines imprisoned in the Hamdaniya murder case and might do the same for two others. Pvts. Tyler Jackson and Jerry Shumate Jr. were released Monday by order of Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. The base announced Mattis' decision Tuesday. Jackson and Shumate had been sentenced to 21 months in the brig as part of pretrial deals in which they pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. They were demoted in rank – from corporal to private....

Marine gets 15 years for Hamdania killing By: TERI FIGUEROA -- staff writer Attorney says Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins will ask general for relief CAMP PENDLETON ---- The first Marine convicted of murdering an Iraqi in the war zone since the U.S. invasion sunk into his chair and put his head on the table Friday afternoon after he learned his fate: 15 years in prison. The punishment was a punch in the gut to Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, as well as an about face from decisions made by other juries, who convicted his accused squad mates on lesser charges and set...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In one Iraqi city U.S. Marines kidnapped and killed an Iraqi grandfather. In another, enraged forces killed 24 civilians, most in their homes, after the death of a popular American comrade. One Marine urinated on a corpse. Yet many Americans outraged three years ago by nonlethal U.S. abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison are tuning out deadlier acts, reflecting growing public fatigue with a messy war and hope that American involvement in an unending conflict will fade. This week, military courts in Camp Pendleton, California convicted the last of eight Americans charged in the 2006 killing...

PENDLETON 8 Marine freed after being convicted. CPL MAGINCALDA IS A FREE MAN, HE WAS GIVEN AN HONORABLE DISCHARGE, ALL PAY, ALL BACK PAY AND BENEFITS. more to follow

The family is devastated. Sht Hutchins is reuced in rank to private, sentenced to 15 years Leavenworth, forfiture of all pay and allowances, and upon release is dishonorably discharged.

FReep This Poll! Actual poll question: Do you support the murder conviction of squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins in the Hamdania case? Yes No, too strong No, too lenient Go to the North County Times/The Californian link provided on this FR post. Scroll down a bit and look for the poll on the right hand side. Vote your choice.