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Marine wants new charges in Iraq war crime tossed
Recent Court Cases |
2014/10/30 12:58
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The Marine Corps should not be retrying a sergeant whose murder conviction in a major Iraq war crime case was overturned by the military's highest court after he served half of his 11-year sentence, his defense attorneys say.
Civilian defense attorney Chris Oprison said he has filed nine motions that he will present during a two-day hearing for Lawrence Hutchins III that starts Thursday at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base, north of San Diego.
"We think all these charges should be dismissed," Oprison said. "What are they trying to get out of this Marine? He served seven years locked up, away from his wife and family. Why are they putting him through this again after he served that much time?"
The military prosecution declined to comment.
The Marine Corps ordered a retrial for Hutchins last year shortly after the ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces that found his rights were violated by interrogators in 2006 when he was detained in Iraq and held in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer for a week.
The new defense team is asking the judge to let them go to Iraq to interview witnesses in the village of Hamdania, where Hutchins led an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping an Iraqi man from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death. Hutchins has said he thought the man was an insurgent.
Before his release, the Marine, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, had served seven years in the brig for one of the biggest war crime cases against U.S. troops to emerge from the war. None of the other seven squad members served more than 18 months.
The military last summer re-charged Hutchins. Among the charges is conspiracy to commit murder, which Oprison said is double jeopardy. Hutchins was convicted of murder at his original trial and acquitted of murder with premeditation.
Hutchins' defense attorneys also say the military compromised his case when its investigators raided defense attorneys' offices at Camp Pendleton in May. Oprison said investigators rifled through privileged files that held "the crown jewels" of Hutchins' defense case. |
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Supreme Court justices: Court needs diversity
Top Attorney News |
2014/10/28 15:53
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U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor expressed concern Saturday about the lack of diverse legal and life experience among those who sit on the country's highest court.
Both are Yale University alumni and Thomas noted that all nine Supreme Court justices attended either Yale or Harvard University. He said everyone should be concerned that the nation's highest court has "such a strong Northeastern orientation."
Thomas, Sotomayor and Justice Samuel Alito, also a Yale alumnus, shared the stage Saturday when they were honored at the Connecticut school's alumni weekend. They were awarded the Yale Law School Association Award of Merit at the event. The six other Supreme Court justices all attended Harvard's law school.
"I do think we should be concerned that virtually all of us are from two law schools," Thomas said to an audience of Yale alumni and students. "I'm sure Harvard and Yale are happy, but I think we should be concerned about that. I think we should also be concerned that we have such a strong Northeastern orientation ... But I couldn't say that somebody who's a colleague of mine shouldn't be there." |
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Securities Arbitration and Litigation
Top Attorney News |
2014/10/28 15:53
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China opposes sending North Korea to int'l court
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2014/10/24 14:26
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China said Thursday it was against referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court, dimming chances that its longtime ally will face additional scrutiny over its dismal and well-documented system of sprawling political prison camps, starvation and mass executions.
The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee is considering a resolution calling on the Security Council to refer Pyongyang to the court, a step that would mark the global community's strongest effort so far against the North's human rights record.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China believes disputes over human rights issues should be handled through "dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
"We think bringing human rights issues to the International Criminal Court won't help improve the human rights condition in a country," Hua told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.
It isn't clear whether the resolution will be approved, and Hua didn't say whether China would use its Security Council veto to block a referral if it came to that.
Despite showing annoyance with Pyongyang's threatening actions, especially its development of nuclear weapons, China has continued to provide it with diplomatic cover.
Chinese experts insist Beijing has relatively little influence over its hard-line communist neighbor, while outsiders say China is fearful that angering or placing heavy pressure on the North could lead it to lash out, or worse, cause the regime to collapse.
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Trending Legal Issues |
2014/10/24 14:23
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