[Peace-discuss] Abu Ghraib conviction today

[Ricky Baldwin]

In case you didn't hear...
(By the way, if you don't plan to read the whole
article, skip to the next to last three paragraphs -
they're the most interesting if you haven't been
following the trial.)
Ricky

England Convicted in Abu Ghraib Abuse Case 

By T.A. BADGER, Associated Press Writer Sept 26, 2005 

Army Pfc. Lynndie England, whose smiling poses in
photos of detainee abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib
prison made her the face of the scandal, was convicted
Monday by a military jury on six of seven counts.

England, 22, was found guilty of one count of
conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and
one count of committing an indecent act. She was
acquitted on a second conspiracy count.

The jury of five male Army officers took about two
hours to reach its verdict. Her case now moves to the
sentencing phase, which will be heard by the same jury
beginning Tuesday.

England tried to plead guilty in May to the same
counts she faced this month in exchange for an
undisclosed sentencing cap, but a judge threw out the
plea deal. She now faces a maximum of nine years in
prison.

England, wearing her dark green dress uniform, stood
at attention Monday as the verdict was read by the
jury foreman. She showed no obvious emotion afterward.
Asked for comment after the verdict, defense lawyer
Capt. Jonathan Crisp said, "The only reaction I can
say is, 'I understand.'"

England's trial is the last for a group of nine Army
reservists charged with mistreating prisoners at Abu
Ghraib in Iraq, a scandal that badly damaged the
United States' image in the Muslim world despite quick
condemnation of the abuse by President Bush. Two other
troops were convicted in trials and the remaining six
made plea deals. Several of those soldiers testified
at England's trial.

Prosecutors used graphic photos of England to support
their contention that she was a key figure in the
abuse conspiracy. One photo shows England holding a
naked detainee on a leash. In others, she smiles and
points to prisoners in humiliating poses.

The conspiracy acquittal came on a count pertaining to
the leash incident; she was found guilty of a
maltreatment count stemming from the same incident.

Beyond the sordid photos, prosecutors pointed to
England's statement to Army investigators in January
2004 that the mistreatment was done to amuse the U.S.
guards at Abu Ghraib.

"The accused knew what she was doing," said Capt.
Chris Graveline, the lead prosecutor. "She was
laughing and joking. ... She is enjoying, she is
participating, all for her own sick humor."

Crisp countered that England was only trying to please
her soldier boyfriend, then-Cpl. Charles Graner Jr.,
labeled the abuse ringleader by prosecutors.

"She was a follower, she was an individual who was
smitten with Graner," Crisp said. 
"She just did whatever he wanted her to do."

England, from Fort Ashby, W.Va., has said that Graner,
now serving a 10-year sentence, fathered her young
son.

The defense argued that England suffered from
depression and that she has an overly compliant
personality, making her a heedless participant in the
abuse.

England's earlier attempt to plead guilty under a deal
with prosecutors was rejected by Col. James Pohl, the
presiding judge. Pohl declared a mistrial during the
sentencing phase when testimony by Graner contradicted
England's guilty plea.

Graner, a defense witness at the sentencing, said
pictures he took of England holding a prisoner on a
leash were meant to be used as a training aid. In her
guilty plea, England had said the pictures were being
taken purely for the amusement of Abu Ghraib guards.

Late Monday, Pohl rejected a request by Crisp to allow
testimony during the sentencing phase by an Army
captain who has reported similar prisoner abuse by
other U.S. soldiers at a camp near Fallujah around the
same time as the Abu Ghraib incidents. 

Crisp said testimony by Capt. Ian Fishback would
provide evidence of a command breakdown in Iraq that
might have led England and other soldiers to think
detainee mistreatment was condoned by military
leaders. 

But the judge ruled that he saw no proof that the two
abuse situations were related, or that abuse elsewhere
would in any way lessen the blame England might
deserve for Abu Ghraib. 

Pohl also ruled that prosecutors could use part of a
deposition by Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a senior
officer in Iraq when the Abu Ghraib abuse took place,
in which Kimmitt said England's conduct threatened the
U.S. military mission in Iraq.




		
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