Crossposted from North County Times

By MARK WALKER – mlwalker@nctimes.com | Posted: April 22, 2010 3:38 pm

A military appeals court on Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a Camp Pendleton Marine who had been found guilty of leading his squad in the 2006 kidnapping and slaying of an Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania.

The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals said Thursday that it made the ruling because an attorney for Sgt. Larry Hutchins’ was improperly dismissed prior to the man’s 2007 trial.

That act alone is sufficient to set aside Hutchins’ conviction for the April 2006 incident and erase his 11-year prison sentence, the nine-member court found.

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Crossposted from KGTV San Diego.

SAN DIEGO — A military appeals court Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a Camp Pendleton Marine in the 2006 killing of an Iraqi man near Hamdania.

Lawrence Hutchins, 26, will remain in prison until the Marine Corps decides whether to appeal, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Washington, D.C.- based Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals found that the then-sergeant was denied a fair trial because one of his lead attorneys was allowed to get off the case just before the court-martial, according to published reports.

Prosecutors said Hutchins masterminded a plan to kidnap and kill suspected insurgent Saleh Gowad, but grabbed Hashim Awad instead when Gowad’s family foiled the plot.

Hutchins was convicted in 2007 of unpremeditated murder and other charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Seven Marines and one Navy corpsman were initially charged in the case. None of their sentences were higher than 16 months.

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UPDATE: October 31, 2006

Three defendants have now entered into plea bargains. They are;

Navy corpsman Melson Bacos

Pfc. John Jodka III

Lance Cpl Tyler Jackson

And, there is now mounting evidence about possible conspiracies and misdeeds within the Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS). This is the agency that conducted the initial investigations. We (UnitedPatriots) are in a full court press on this.

Update: October 17, 2006

Sergeant accused in Iraqi man’s killing appears in court; defense attorneys lining up trip to Iraq as Hamdania case moves ahead

By: TERI FIGUEROA and MARK WALKER – Staff Writers
CAMP PENDLETON —- A Marine sergeant accused of directing his squad in an alleged plot to kidnap and kill an Iraqi civilian squared his jaw and waived his right to make a statement Monday during a hearing to determine if his case will be ordered to court-martial.

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In addition to the four Marines (formerly referred to as the Pendleton 8 – Hamdanyia ) from K/3/5 and five Marines
– and possibly more – from K/3/1 (the "Hayditha" case), we now have other warriors facing Courts Martial.

Three (3) soldiers from C Company, 3d Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3d Bridage Combat Team have been referred to a General Courts Martial.

Their names are:

• Pfc Corey Clagett
• Spc William Hunsucker
• SSgt Raymond Girouard

To begin their story, one must read the Article 32 hearing, conducted in at the FOB (Forward Operating Base) in Brassfield-Mora, Iraq, that opened at 1850, 1 August 2006 in the conference room of Building 1701, COB Speicher, Iraq.