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.
I haven’t heard whether the jury in the Sgt Hutchins case will break for the night or do the old “Twelve Angry Men” routine and keep at their deliberations.
His will be the hardest case of all. There’s been sparse reporting, so I’m not sure whether any of the witnesses actually identified him as a shooter. If not, the jury could return the same kind of verdict as in the Thomas and Magincalda cases. That would be a shocking end to this POS prosecution.