Jury acquits Marine of murder

NCTimes.com ^ | 1 August, 2007 | TERI FIGUEROA staff writer

[brityank]

Jury acquits Marine of murder

By: TERI FIGUEROA staff writer
Serviceman guilty of conspiracy, lesser charges in civilian death

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A jury of combat veterans on Wednesday acquitted a Marine corporal of murder and kidnapping in the death of an Iraqi man in on April 26, 2006.

Special Report

Cpl. Marshall Magincalda was found guilty of three lesser charges: conspiracy to commit murder, larceny and housebreaking. He faces a maximum of life in prison, but there is no minimum sentence for the crimes. A Marine convicted of the same conspiracy charge was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge last month and escaped jail.

Cpl. Marshall Magincalda
File Photo Staff Photographer

Magincalda was stoic as the verdict was read in a cramped and crowded-to-capacity courtroom at Camp Pendleton. His father and stepmother hugged after the verdict was read. His stepmother broke down in tears.

A sentencing hearing for Magincalda was set to begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

A separate jury is still deliberating the fate of his squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, who was also accused in the plot to snatch and kill a man suspected as a key insurgent responsible for roadside bombs attacks on U.S. troops in the area of Hamdania, a rural Iraqi village. When their attempt to grab that man fizzled, they kidnapped and killed his neighbor instead, Marines testified.

Marines say the squad then covered up the slaying by reporting that they killed the man after spotting him planting a roadside bomb.

Defense attorneys in both Hutchins' and Magincalda's cases did not deny that their clients played a role in the plot. But they argued that violence toward Iraqi detainees was encouraged by the men's superiors.

Jurors heard testimony that the eight-man squad watched and heard about Marine Corps superiors in their company beating Iraqi suspects during questioning, as well as shoving guns in or near their mouths.

The cases against Hutchins, Magincalda and their six squad mates offered a glimpse into the frustration and fears facing Marines who spent their tours traveling bomb-laced streets, often living off the base and never more than grabbing distance from their gun.

In court, some of the accused troops testified that their squad agreed to the killing as part of an effort to send a message to insurgents operating in the Hamdania area.

Although first deemed a legitimate and lawful killing by the Marine Corps, complaints from the victim's family prompted an investigation.

The Marine Corps charged the Camp Pendleton-based squad of seven Marines and Navy corpsman with the death of the Iraqi man, who they forced out of bed, marched to a dirt hole a mile or so down the road, and shot to death.

Less then two months after the killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, the military charged the eight troops with murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, larceny, housebreaking and making false official statements.

The sergeant and two corporals in charge of the squad opted for trial. Two weeks ago, a military jury acquitted one of them men, Cpl. Trent Thomas, of murder, but found him guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy.

The jurors rejected giving Thomas a jail sentence, but did vote to reduce his rank to private and kick him out of the Marine Corps. Approval of that sentence is pending.

The other five men ---- the Navy corpsman and four of the most junior Marines ---- agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for testifying against their squad mates. Most of them received jail sentences of less than two years.

In court, each of the five men testified that Hutchins was the architect of the plan. But Hutchins' attorney argued that the directive to kill the man known as the area's main insurgent came from higher up the chain of command.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

[brityank]

PING.

[elhombrelibre]

An innocent man was killed, but it says a great deal about the standards of our military that an investigation was initiated and due process has been followed for those who conspired or took his life.

[Girlene]

Just posted the same article from North County Times here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1874940/posts

I like your title better, brityank. I’ll stick with this thread. Awesome news for Magincalda. It could have been much worse. We’ll see what the sentencing phase brings up. He still faces some possible harsh penalties.

[brityank]

I question your supposition of him being "an innocent man". There have been many details exposed that indicated that the town was awash in insurgents and their supporters, and the Marines were under constant attack and harassment.

You want cops, send in the Blue Helmets. You engage in war -- fight it like one.

[Girlene]

An innocent man was killed,...

The problem with this case is neither the Marines, NCIS, nor the prosecution knows who was killed. He may be a suspected insurgent. Only when the cases went to trial was it found out the prosecution can't identify the Iraqi who was killed as an "innocent" man.

[elhombrelibre]

Thanks. I didn’t know that, and it’s a very important point.

[elhombrelibre]

You’ve more background than I. I’ll defer to you on this.

[taxesareforever]

You want cops, send in the Blue Helmets. You engage in war -- fight it like one.

Exactly. Besides, the blue helmets never get tried for their crimes.

[RedRover]

Ping!

[jazusamo]

I hope he gets no additional jail time. Thanks for the ping, Red.

[FlingWingFlyer]

"Charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500" -- Capt. Willard

War is heck!

[skeeter]

This afternoon ABC News headline news went something like 'Marine Guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Murder'.

But barely a mention of the not guilty on the main charge.

Its why I hate 'em.

[RedRover]

He still faces some possible harsh penalties.

Hope the sentences matches Cpl Thomas'. If not (if I understand the system correctly) Gen Mattis can reduce the sentence (but not increase it).

If both receive light sentences, and both stand, I hope Gen Mattis will do the right thing and commute LCpl Pennington's sentence to time served. Seems that not fighting the charges in court was a mistake.

[RedRover]

BTW, brityank, I love your posting style!

[brityank]

Thanks; Cut and Paste makes it easy.         :^)

[Hot Tabasco]

An innocent man was killed,

Thats all we need to hear especially if it was determined to be premidated......

You want cops,

No, nor do we want indiscriminate executioners.......

The military has served its justice.

[xzins]

An innocent man was killed,

The Marines believed he was an insurgent. I trust their battlefield judgement more than that of arm chair 2d guessers back in the states.

The man was not innocent. Otherwise, there's no way that Magic's teammate could have been sentenced to just the BCD Special. After all, he was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.

[brityank]

The military has served its justice.

Others can probably chime in with better info than I, but this was a political trial. Look up the rest of the threads on this.

I was under the UCMJ, and would far rather be there than under the civil system -- that is political which is why it's not called the Victim's Justice System!

[Girlene]

Yes, Lt. Gen. Mattis has leeway to reduce the sentences. It will be interesting to see what sentencing is handed out from the jury pool. They began their deliberation today. I imagine Magincalda got out of the murder charge, also, because nobody claimed he actually shot at the Iraqi. It had to have made the decision for this jury much easier to acquit him of the murder charge vs. Cpl. Thomas.