Cpl. Trent Thomas was screwed. He should have been acquitted outright.
I can not believe we are even having trials like this. We are at war, you kill anything that moves. Then you will not have to come back again. Get some balls America, do not bow to the rag head murdering scum!
Here's a larger article from North County Times
Thomas escapes jail time, given a bad conduct discharge in Hamdania killing
By: MARK WALKER ---- Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A military jury this morning decided a Marine corporal convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping in the shooting death of Iraqi man last year will be given a bad conduct discharge but no prison time.
The jury deliberated for only about an hour before issuing its decision in the case of Cpl. Trent Thomas, a 25-year-old St. Louis native.
"I believe that we did what we needed to do to save Marines' lives," Thomas said after his sentencing hearing on Camp Pendleton. "I was just hoping I could go home to my family. We've been through a lot and now we're going to be together."
On Wednesday, the jury of three officers and six enlisted men deliberated for about five hours before finding Thomas guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping in the death of an Iraqi civilian. But the panel acquitted him of the most serious charge he faced, premeditated murder, which carried a mandatory life prison sentence without the possibility of parole.
The prosecution asked the jury to sentence Thomas to 15 years in prison for his role in the April 26, 2006, slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a 52-year-old retired Iraqi policeman. In the military justice system, a jury and not a judge decides a sentence.
Thomas was the first among the eight Camp Pendleton troops charged in the case to take his case to trial. Five other men pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from one to eight year in prison.
The lighter sentence for Thomas may be the work of a jury familiar with the pressures of combat, family members of some of the other accused and legal experts said Friday morning. All of the jurors had combat experience.
"The key to the sentence that Trent got is every person (on the jury) had combat experience and understands what happens there," said Deanna Pennington, whose son, Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, received an eight-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping --- the same crimes for which Thomas received no additional jail time.
Pennington said Thomas' sentence did not cause her to second-guess her son's decision to plead guilty.
Pennington's attorney, Carlsbad's David Brahms, called Thomas' decision to go to trial risky and praised the work of his defense team.
"It was a brilliant job by Thomas' attorneys," Brahms said. "Great reward comes with great risk."
Thomas' attorneys had asked that the married father of two young children not serve any time beyond the 14 months he has been in custody since he was arrested in late April 2006 while still in Iraq.
Former Marine attorney and judge Gary Solis said after the sentencing that juries often play the role of softening verdicts --- or toughening them up --- through sentencing.
"Juries have always been society's avenging sword or the means by which society softens the rough edges of the law," Solis said in a telephone interview Friday morning. Now a professor of military law and Washington's Georgetown University, Solis said the sentence sent a message that "we can't have this conduct, so you're gone," but at the same time that the panel was sympathetic to the case.
Thomas and seven Kilo Company squad mates from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were charged with the slaying last year.
During his trial, Thomas' attorneys presented expert medical witnesses who said he suffers from a mild form of post-traumatic stress disorder and was predisposed to agree with anything his leaders wanted, even if that meant breaking the military's rules of engagement.
Those who pleaded guilty have testified that Awad was picked at random and that the killing was intended to send a message that the Marines were tired of being attacked.
On Wednesday, Thomas had implored the jury to return a sentence that allowed him to stay in the Marine Corps. The service brought stability and purpose to his life, the veteran of three Iraq tours said.
"I came from nothing," Thomas said, briefly breaking down. "Here, I am at home. It is my all."
Pennington's mother said she was happy with Thomas' sentence.
"We are so pleased for his family and for him," she said. "These boys were just doing their job and what they were told to do.
It was not immediately clear when Thomas will be released from the brig and dismissed from the service.
Trials for the two remaining co-defendants, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III and Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, will play out in a base courtroom next week.
Thomas said Friday he is praying for the other defendants and will attend weekend rallies outside the base to show his support for Marines still facing charges.