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CAMP PENDLETON ---- A lance corporal convicted Thursday of killing an Iraqi army private a year ago and who has spent the last 10 months in the Camp Pendleton brig will not serve any more time, a military jury decided Friday. Lance Cpl. Delano V. Holmes smiled at his attorneys shortly after the sentence was announced in a base courtroom. The jury that found Holmes guilty of negligent homicide and lying to investigators could have sentenced him to as much as eight years in prison. Although it decided he should not serve any more time, the panel ordered that he...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine lance corporal was found guilty this morning of negligent homicide and lying to investigators in the stabbing death of Iraqi army private during a fight at a guard station at Camp Fallujah last New Year's eve. Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes showed no visible reaction when the verdict was announced. The 22-year-old Indianapolis native's case was heard by a jury of five enlisted men and three officers over eight days. Holmes faces up to eight years and a dishonorable discharge if sentenced to the maximum punishment on the two convictions. A sentencing hearing for Holmes is...

Closing statements in the case were scheduled to begin Wednesday, with prosecutors painting a picture of a fight between Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes and a soldier that resulted in charges of unpremeditated murder against the Marine. Holmes' attorney say it was self-defense.Holmes, 22, of Indianapolis, is accused of stabbing to death Pvt. Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin on Dec. 31, 2006, while the two stood guard together in Fallujah.By all accounts during testimony, the guard post had been a target of insurgents in the days leading up to the killing. Witnesses testified about a rocket-propelled grenade being launched at the post....

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — Witnesses described a tense scene in the pre-dawn hours after a Marine reservist killed an Iraqi soldier at a guard post, telling of angry Iraqi soldiers confronting American troops and moving the body. The testimony came Tuesday in the court-martial of Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes, who is accused of stabbing Pvt. Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin on Dec. 31, 2006, while the two stood together in Fallujah at a guard post frequently targeted by insurgents. Holmes has said he killed Hassin in self-defense. "The (Iraqis) were trying to take the body. I said no," said Bryce...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A court-martial opened Monday for a Marine accused of murdering an Iraqi soldier while the two men stood guard together in Fallujah. But the 22-year-old reservist says he acted in self-defense. Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes, of Indianapolis, is accused of stabbing Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin to death as they stood watch at a security post on Dec. 31, 2006. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of unpremeditated murder and making a false statement. His court-martial started Monday with attorneys for both sides arguing motions over the use of photographs of the soldier's body as...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine lance corporal asserts he killed an Iraqi soldier last New Year's Eve because he feared for his life after the two became embroiled in a struggle involving a cigarette and cell phone. The Marine Corps alleges that the killing was not self-defense, but a case of rage-driven murder that could result in Lance Cpl. Delano "Del" Holmes facing a life prison sentence if convicted. On Monday, a 10-member military jury will gather in a Camp Pendleton courtroom to hear the case and decide which version of the events is best supported by the evidence. "It...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Jenni Crowley says she can't understand why her son, a Marine reservist, is charged with murder in the death of an Iraqi soldier. Next week, she'll be in California to watch his lawyers try to clear him. The court-martial of Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes, 22, a graduate of Indianapolis' Ben Davis High School, is scheduled to begin Monday at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he has been held in a brig since February. Holmes (pictured) is accused of fatally stabbing Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin as the two men stood watch at a security post in Fallujah, Iraq, on Dec....

CAMP PENDLETON – In the months before Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes fatally stabbed an Iraqi soldier in their sentry outpost, military doctors were treating him with drugs for anxiety and insomnia, his attorneys said this week. Prosecutors have charged Holmes with murdering Mutather Jasem Muhammed Hassin on Dec. 31 in Fallujah. Holmes cut and stabbed Hassin 40 times with his combat knife, with some of the wounds piercing the victim's spine. The revelations come about a month before the start of Holmes' court-martial at Camp Pendleton. They provide further evidence that defense lawyers, as part of their overall court...

A Marine is in the brig awaiting court-martial on a charge of killing an Iraqi soldier with his bayonet while the two were assigned to a nighttime sentry post at Camp Fallujah. Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes, 21, says he acted in self-defense when he thought the Iraqi, who was wearing a ski mask, smoking and talking on a cell phone, might have been signaling to an insurgent sniper. Three days earlier, in a different location in Fallujah, three Marines in Holmes' battalion were killed in a sniper attack.... Holmes' civilian defense counsel, former federal prosecutor Stephen Cook, said the...

By Rick Rogers UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER August 15, 2007 CAMP PENDLETON – Tens of thousands of American and Iraqi troops serve together daily, but last December a dispute while on duty led to a Marine reservist stabbing an Iraqi soldier to death as the two stood watch in Anbar province. Now Lance Cpl. Delano V. Holmes, 21, is accused of killing Mutather Jasem Muhammed Hassin inside a tiny observation post in Fallujah, according to charges filed by the Marine Corps. Holmes, an Indianapolis resident who was on his first deployment, was arraigned July 31 and is scheduled for court-martial at...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A Marine reservist from Indiana has been charged with murdering an Iraqi army soldier in Fallujah, an attorney said Tuesday. Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes, 21, of Indianapolis, is accused of stabbing Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin to death as the two men stood watch at a security post on Dec. 31, 2006, Holmes' lawyer said. The struggle began in the pre-dawn darkness after Hassin allegedly opened his cell phone then lit a cigarette at the post, attorney Steve Cook said. The men were not supposed to display any illuminated objects because of the threat of sniper fire, and Holmes...