Another US military Hero...

BrownShark

BrownShark

Banned
THOMAS WATKINS
AP News
May 07, 2008 21:34 EST
A Marine from Camp Pendleton who was sentenced to 15 years in the brig for killing an Iraqi civilian had his term reduced by four years, the man's attorney said Wednesday.



Rich Brannon, the civilian lawyer for Lawrence G. Hutchins III, said the reduction came after he appealed
for clemency to Lt. Gen. Samuel T. Helland, Hutchins' commanding general.

"I was pleased to see a reduction, but I would like to see more," Brannon told The Associated Press in a phone call from North Carolina.
Brannon said that he had not yet seen official paperwork approving Hutchins' sentence reduction, but that he learned of the decision Tuesday from the Marine's legal team at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego.
Marine spokesman Lt. Ken Cunze referred a call seeking comment to a colleague, who was not immediately available.
Hutchins, of Plymouth, Mass., was the leader of an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, from his home in April 2006, then marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death. The killing took place in Hamdania, a small village in Al Anbar province.
Hutchins was sentenced Aug. 3 after being convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement and larceny. He had been charged with premeditated murder, but premeditation was removed from the verdict, meaning Hutchins no longer faced a mandatory life sentence.
All eight squad members — seven Marines and one Navy corpsmen — were initially charged with murder and kidnapping, but four lower-ranking Marines and the sailor cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison.
Other Marines were acquitted of murder but convicted of lesser charges and freed after their courts-martial.
Brannon said Hutchins is appealing his conviction and is hoping to get the case retried.
 
K

Kit Lange

Guest
I apologize in advance for the long post.


BrownShark,

Sgt Lawrence Hutchins IS a hero. As an investigative military writer who has worked very deeply in this case since the incident was first reported two years ago, I can tell you in no uncertain terms that he--and the other seven members of that squad--are innocent of murder. They killed an insurgent in a combat zone. That's what we pay them to do.

I have spoken with every one of these families many, many times. I have a copy of the NCIS work product, the autopsy reports, the combat logs, and a diary written by the platoon leader for every day they spent in Iraq. I have spoken to Sgt Hutchins at length. He is, quite simply, one of the most honorable men you could ever hope to meet.

Rather than run around the internet regurgitating twisted media reports written by people who haven't a clue (trust me on that...they're not interested in the actual documents from the case and have told me "bad Marines are a better story than good Marines"), why not try educating yourself? Sgt Lawrence Hutchins would have laid down his life for you at any moment while serving in Iraq. In fact, the simple concept of being free to post your drivel in forums across the internet is derived from the gifts given to you by those who have served and continue to wear the uniform.

By the way--from a fellow veteran...you're welcome.

For those of you who are actually interested in learning more about how seven Marines and a Navy corpsman were accused and imprisoned by their own government, you can find my case archive here.

http://euphoricreality.com/series/pendleton-8/

This is a directory of just some of the documents in the case, including the autopsy report, pathology report, combat logs, and intel from the area showing that the man they killed was an insurgent.

http://euphoricreality.com/wp-content/uploads/Pendleton8/

If you're still not convinced of their innocence, then consider the following:

- The incident was originally considered a good shoot by their command, and was only investigated because Iraqis showed up asking for the $2500 cash given by the U.S. government to Iraqi families if a non-insurgent civilian is killed. When the Iraqis were told, "No, you don't get a payment because your relative was a terrorist," suddenly more family members showed up to claim the man was near to God Himself. None of these "family" members were ever verified; however, the intel on the actual family showed insurgent activity for every male member.

- The men were literally taken from the front lines and interrogated for up to 18 hours by two NCIS agents at a time with no food, water, or bathroom breaks.

- They were put on a regular commercial flight with no guards or security, brought home from Iraq, and were not put on any kind of restriction. After three days, they were rounded up, put in shackles and leg chains, and kept that way for three months without being charged with a crime. Sgt Hutchins spent MONTHS in solitary confinement.

- Some of the men were denied food while in the brig, or their food was purposefully messed with (bugs, etc). At least one of them was denied ongoing medical attention for combat injuries and two of them were either denied medication, or overmedicated. They were put in conditions we would never expect detainees to live in at Gitmo, and these conditions improved only because a contingent of retired Marine officers in the Pendleton area who visited the brig threw a fit and complained all the way to General Mattis.

- The government exhumed the body of the man the Marines killed, but had no idea where he was buried so they went back to the "family members," who not only couldn't identify the "victim" before or after he was killed, but couldn't initially tell investigators WHERE the body was buried--even though they claimed to have buried him. The government autopsy report refers to the "victim" as "BTB Awad, Mohammed." BTB stands for "believed to be," meaning the government isn't even positive this is the guy the Marines killed. In other words, they very well may have just pulled a random dead insurgent out of the ground and used the body to charge seven Marines and a Corpsman with murder.

- The NCIS agents who interrogated these men denied them legal counsel, and pushed them to the point where one of the Marines, after 18 hours, finally said, "Bring me whatever you want me to sign and I'll sign it." There are no recordings of the interrogations, and the statements were not written by the Marines. NCIS admits that they themselves constructed the statements from their notes and MEMORY, later bringing the statements to the Marines, who, deprived of sleep, food, and water, didn't have the physical or emotional resources to really even know what they were signing.

I'll stop here, but there is much more.

Thank you again for allowing me to post on your forum. It is not my intent to spam, but after two years of being so deeply involved with this case and many just like it, I tire of the trolls who wish to spout off on things they know nothing about.

Sincerely,

Kit Lange
http://euphoricreality.com
 
toonertoo

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Thank you Kit, for the info, the time you spent posting it, and for your service.
Welcome to Brown Cafe, and I hope you will continue to post.
Keep up the good fight. My prayers are and have been with the soldiers.

I agree Tieguy
I invite other posters here to join us in honoring our troops by posting positive stories of military service to wipe out the stench BS puts here in trying to discredit our troops
 
av8torntn

av8torntn

Well-Known Member
Kit Lange said:
BrownShark,


Rather than run around the internet regurgitating twisted media reports written by people who haven't a clue (trust me on that...they're not interested in the actual documents from the case and have told me "bad Marines are a better story than good Marines"), why not try educating yourself? Sgt Lawrence Hutchins would have laid down his life for you at any moment while serving in Iraq. In fact, the simple concept of being free to post your drivel in forums across the internet is derived from the gifts given to you by those who have served and continue to wear the uniform.

By the way--from a fellow veteran...you're welcome.

Thank you again for allowing me to post on your forum. It is not my intent to spam, but after two years of being so deeply involved with this case and many just like it, I tire of the trolls who wish to spout off on things they know nothing about.

Sincerely,

Kit Lange
http://euphoricreality.com
Click to expand...

Very well said.
 
dannyboy

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
While the war has brought out some of the evil that is in some of the men there, it also has brought out some of the best that this country has to offer. And these latter posts show just that.

And it is interesting all the tens of thousands of good deeds our service men do each day for the people there, deeds that put them in harms way, but they do it anyway. Deeds that those with warped adgendas never mention.

To those that stand in harms way, lead on!

d
 

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