JURIST - Paper Chase: US Marine sentenced to 15 years for Hamdania Iraqi civilian murder

[JURIST] A military jury in Camp Pendleton, California, Friday sentenced [press release] US Marine Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins, III to 15 years in prison for his role in the April 2006 kidnapping and murder of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile] in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive]. Hutchins was convicted [JURIST report] Thursday of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement, and larceny. He is the first and only Marine convicted of murder in connection to the Hamdania incident.

Earlier Friday, a military jury sentenced US Marine Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda [advocacy website] to 448 days confinement [press release; JURIST report] and demoted him to private for his role in the Hamdania incident. Magincalda, who was convicted [JURIST report] of conspiracy to murder, larceny and housebreaking, and acquitted of more serious charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping, and making a false official statement, will not serve any additional time in detention as he has been in pre-trial confinement for the last 450 days. Five defendants have pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in the death of Awad, who was removed from his residence and killed, then arranged with a shovel and firearm to appear as if he were planting an improvised explosive device. AP has more.

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