CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A military jury has found a Marine sergeant guilty of murder in the retrial of a major Iraq war-crimes case involving the 2006 killing of a retired Iraqi policeman.
The jury of three enlisted men and three military officers deliberated for over three hours Wednesday before reaching a verdict in the case of Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III.
The defense argued the military inquiry was shoddy and did not support the allegations that Hutchins and his squad killed 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad from the village of Hamdania, and then planted an AK-47 rifle next to his bullet-riddled body to make it look like he was an insurgent.
Military courts overturned Hutchins’ conviction twice, ruling there were errors in the handling of his case. He served more than half of his 11-year sentence.
