Posted on 06/26/2013 5:40:01 PM PDT by Saoirise
A major Iraq War crimes case was upended Wednesday when the military's highest court tossed the conviction of a former Camp Pendleton Marine accused of murdering an unarmed man in Hamdaniya, Iraq in 2006.
Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, the former squad leader of the "Pendleton 8" as supporters in San Diego called them, was convicted in 2007 and is serving an 11-year sentence in the brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
The military accused Hutchins of being the ringleader in a plot to capture and kill a suspected insurgent at the height of the war. When they couldn’t find him they murdered another man and staged the body to look like he had been planting roadside bombs, prosecutors argued.
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces dismissed Hutchins' conviction for unpremeditated murder, saying his case was based on an illegally obtained confession, according to a copy of the decision. Now the government could appeal to the Supreme Court, or the military convening authority could order a retrial.
Hutchins had argued that his constitutional rights were violated when he was held in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer for a week during his interrogation in Iraq.
"Sgt Hutchins is now an innocent man in the eyes of the law, and should be free from confinement at the Miramar Brig very soon," his lawyer, Maj. Babu Kaza said. "It is time for this case to be over. Sgt Hutchins and his family have suffered enough."
This is the one court decision I welcome!
Larry Hutchins ahs been in the Brig in Miramar since 2011.
Great news. He should be released immediately.
He served his purpose as a Scapegoat.
It was criminal to arrest him to begin with.
This is good news, it’s time for this to be over.
Thanks for the pings!
“since 2011.”
Is it 2013 already??
Time is moving so fast now, it seems.
I certainly agree. I don’t see it happening, though. It’s disheartening that Mabus and elements of both NCIS and JAG have gotten away with what is at it’s core, imo, treason.
333!
Does this mean a retrial, or is he home free?
The record is returned to the Judge Advocate General of the Navy for referral to an appropriate convening authority who may authorize a rehearing.
If the persecutors have any sense left they would drop it and move on, but they will stick it to Larry some way until they have their "pound of flesh".
He was acquitted of shooting an unarmed man?
Gotta “hand” it to him.
Beat the Long Arm of the law and won’t have to shoulder any more grief...
That’s one. Others left to go.
The past six years in confinement are a fair-sized chunk of flesh.
“...Interesting that the court didn’t touch on the UCI issue against MabASS.”
He’s no less guilty.
He needs to be out. They all need to be out.
Sgt Hutchins/Pendleton 8 ping
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