Hamdania incident
Encyclopedia
The Hamdania incident refers to an incident involving members of the United States Marines in relation to the shooting death of a possible insurgent Iraqi man on April 26, 2006 in Al Hamdania, a small village west of Baghdad
near Abu Ghraib
. An investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
resulted in charges
of murder
, kidnapping
, housebreaking, larceny, Obstruction of Justice and conspiracy
associated with the alleged coverup
of the incident. They were forced to drop many charges on the defendants. The defendants are seven Marines and a Navy
Corpsman. As of February 2007, five of the defendants have negotiated pleas to lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy, or less, and have agreed to testify in these trials. Additional Marines from the same battalion faced lesser charges of assault related to the use of physical force during interrogations of suspected insurgents. Those charges were dropped.
and a shovel next to his body along the road, then falsified the formal report of the incident, asserting he was shot while digging a hole for a roadside bomb. In an interview on ABC television, Congressman John P. Murtha
explained "some Marines pulled somebody out of a house, put them next to an IED
, fired some AK-47 rounds so they'd have cartridges there. And then tried to cover that up."
According to neighbors at around 2:00 AM on the morning of April 26th, Marines allegedly pounded on the door of one of the village houses demanding a search. They asked the occupant, an alleged cousin of the victim, if he had any weapons. He had an AK-47 (each family in Iraq is allowed one rifle). They took the rifle and also a shovel resting in front of the house, so he says. At the Iraqi's house in question, the Marines broke into the home while the victim was sleeping and took him from the house, not searching his house afterward. The Marines then bound the man's hands using plastic restraints and forced him to walk a distance back to the ambush site. Once they arrived at the ambush site, the Marines bound (the autopsy was inconclusive and could not verify this) the man's feet and placed him into a hole from an old IED blast. The Marines then ran back to the area where the other members of their squad were standing and fired upon the man in the IED hole. While some Marines were shooting him with their rifles, other members of the squad were shooting the stolen AK-47 rifle into the air to make it sound like a firefight was occurring. After the Iraqi man was dead, the Marines scattered the expended AK-47 brass next to the body, removed the plastic restraints, and placed the AK-47 rifle next to the body.
The next morning the local police brought a body to the neighbors for identification, saying he had been killed by the Americans. Family members recognized the man and the body was sent by the Iraqi police to the local hospital. The victim's face was swollen beyond recognition and he had been shot in the mouth.
By other accounts he was shot four times in the face.
The official autopsy results have not — as of the time of the Article 32 hearings for Jodka, Shumate, and Magincalda — been made public.
("3/5"), 1st Marine Division, have been placed in confinement in Camp Pendleton
pending possible charges. Press reports noted it was unusual for Marines to be placed in the brig
before charges have been filed, suggesting concern by authorities the men may be considered a flight risk.Under military law
the defendants could face the death penalty. These Marines were brought back from Iraq with no restraint and had stops along the way back to Camp Pendleton. They were free to roam at Camp Pendleton upon arrival and until the next day and none of them made any attempt to flee. They were only, then, put in shackles and chains and taken to the Brig.
On June 21, 2006 the Reuters
news services reported that the United States Marine Corps
will announce charges of murder
against seven Marines and one Navy Hospital Corpsman: Corporal
Marshall L. Magincalda, Corporal Trent D. Thomas, Lance Corporal Robert B. Pennington, Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, Staff Sergeant
Brian Scott "Christian" Kennedy , Lance Corporal Jerry E. Shumate Jr., Private First Class
John J. Jodka, and Lance Corporal Tyler A. Jackson, Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons, Lance Corporal Jason Finley The charges will also include kidnapping
, conspiracy
, making false official statements, and larceny
. Staff Sargent Christian Kennedy was not found guilty and was relieved of his squad and as team leader of second platoon third squad. Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons and Lance Corporal Jason Finley were not involved in the incident as they were in the south west part of the village chasing insurgents.About a dozen Marines involved in that case remained under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and none have been charged with any criminal offenses, but other actions were taken by the United States Marine Corps. Staff Sargent Christian Brian Scott Kennedy and Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons both were sent to back to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii to serve with the 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Unit, In December 3rd 2006 a CH-46 helicopter crashed in Anbar Province, Iraq. killed in n the crash was Cpl. Joshua C. Sticklen,
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/article_651bcb78-abce-554a-b76c-3286f00df1d6.html#ixzz1cwcCOPSz
intended to hold hearings into the Hamdania events as well as the Haditha massacre. However, no hearings have been announced.
Subsequent reports reveal that these assault charges, which were all dropped, were related to activities occurring half a month earlier on April 10, 2006, also in Hamdania, in which three civilians were brutalized by US Marine personnel. It was disclosed that the Marine officer was 2nd Lt
. Nathan P. Phan, who later admitted he beat the civilians to the point of nearly killing them, choked two of them, and placed a loaded M9 service pistol into the mouth of the third civilian. Phan is also charged with making a false official statement. Phan's attorney states that all charges are without merit.
on several charges each, including murder. Reports returned recommended a General Court Martial (the IO report for Magincalda is not specific recommendations of specific charges for Court Martial).
Other members of the squad charged in the Hamdania incident were expected to have their Article 32 hearings in September and October 2006.
Article 32 hearings are analogous to grand jury investigation
s in that they function to determine if there is sufficient evidence to support a trial. In place of a jury, the decision will be made by the ranking officer at Camp Pendleton, Lt. General James Mattis
, based on a recommendation from an Investigating Officer.
According to Gary D. Solis
, professor at Georgetown University Law Center
and former Marine Corps prosecutor, it is likely that prosecutors will be able to get at least one of the eight squad members to cooperate with the promise of a reduced sentence, as some of them potentially face the death penalty.
On October 4, 2006, Bacos revealed through his lawyer Jeremiah Sullivan that he will testify against the Marine defendants. The details of that plea deal and his proferred testimony were not released at the time. Defense attorneys are expected to object that testimony allegedly obtained under coercion as unreliable, and also to argue that Iraqi accounts of the incident are also suspect.
In spite of defense statements that their clients' Article 32 hearings showed weaknesses in the prosecution's caes, on September 25, 2006, Mattis recommended that Jodka, Shumate, and Magincalda face a general court martial for murder. According to Mattis' official statements, the defendants no longer face the death penalty.
According to Bacos, the Marines set out that night to capture an insurgent who had been captured and released several times. They agreed in advance if they could not get the insurgent, they would "get someone else". Knocking on the door of one house, they took the home owner's AK-47 rifle and a shovel from his yard. They proceeded to another house which turned out to be the home of the unidentified Iraqi man. They allegedly took this man from his home, allegedly bound his hands and feet, then placed him in a hole. The squad opened fire on this man as Hutchins put a call into the command center requesting permission to fire on an insurgent. At the same time, Bacos fired an AK-47 into the air to simulate the sound of a fire fight. After the squad fired upon this man from a distance, Hutchins fired three rounds into his head. Thomas fired seven to 10 more rounds into his chest to check he was dead. Pennington then pressed Awad's fingerprints onto a shovel and AK-47 they had brought to implicate him as an insurgent.
"I knew what we were doing was wrong," Bacos testified. "I tried to say something and then I decided to look away." Since this time, Jodka and Jackson have also testified and Shumate, through his attorney, has signaled an intention to take a plea deal and testify at the remaining defendants trials."I wanted to tell Staff Sargent Christian Kennedy and Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons, but no one likes a rat" Bacos testified.
Staff Sargent Christian Kennedy gets a other than honorable discharge for loosing command and control of his unit.Kennedy is then
Diagnosed with PTSD,and suddenly demanded a divorce from his wife, abused alcohol and left his base without permission,
and assaulted various people while drinking coffee one morning in Bldg.1863. Brian Scott Christian Kennedy received an article 15, and a article 16 special session was convened to end the reduce sentence which was initially given. Kennedy spent one hundred thirty two days in the brig and was released from active duty November 24, 2008. Prosecutors say Kennedy led the squad that also dragged a retired Iraqi policeman from his home and killed him in the village of Hamdania in 2006.
, turned down a request to issue Hutchins a pardon
but did reduce the sentence to 11 years. Hutchins served his sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks
at Fort Leavenworth
while pursuing an appeal
; his conviction was overturned in April 2010 due to an inappropriate dismissal of one of his attorneys before trial.
near Mosul
.
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
near Abu Ghraib
Abu Ghraib
The city of Abu Ghraib in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq is located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000. The old road to Jordan passes through Abu Ghraib...
. An investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy...
resulted in charges
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, housebreaking, larceny, Obstruction of Justice and conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
associated with the alleged coverup
Cover-up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrong-doing, error, incompetence or other embarrassing information...
of the incident. They were forced to drop many charges on the defendants. The defendants are seven Marines and a Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Corpsman. As of February 2007, five of the defendants have negotiated pleas to lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy, or less, and have agreed to testify in these trials. Additional Marines from the same battalion faced lesser charges of assault related to the use of physical force during interrogations of suspected insurgents. Those charges were dropped.
Unlawful shooting
The Iraqi body is still unidentified, but the defense attorneys of the Marines on trial challenged this, stipulating that the victim was actually Hashim Gowad, a suspected insurgent and the cousin of the Marines' intended target, Saleh Gowad. The charges against the Marines were thereafter revised to identify the shooting victim only as "an unknown Iraqi." According to testimony received under various plea agreements, it was alleged that the Marines abducted an Iraqi man, killed him a half hour later, placed an AK-47AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
and a shovel next to his body along the road, then falsified the formal report of the incident, asserting he was shot while digging a hole for a roadside bomb. In an interview on ABC television, Congressman John P. Murtha
John Murtha
John Patrick "Jack" Murtha, Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010....
explained "some Marines pulled somebody out of a house, put them next to an IED
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
, fired some AK-47 rounds so they'd have cartridges there. And then tried to cover that up."
According to neighbors at around 2:00 AM on the morning of April 26th, Marines allegedly pounded on the door of one of the village houses demanding a search. They asked the occupant, an alleged cousin of the victim, if he had any weapons. He had an AK-47 (each family in Iraq is allowed one rifle). They took the rifle and also a shovel resting in front of the house, so he says. At the Iraqi's house in question, the Marines broke into the home while the victim was sleeping and took him from the house, not searching his house afterward. The Marines then bound the man's hands using plastic restraints and forced him to walk a distance back to the ambush site. Once they arrived at the ambush site, the Marines bound (the autopsy was inconclusive and could not verify this) the man's feet and placed him into a hole from an old IED blast. The Marines then ran back to the area where the other members of their squad were standing and fired upon the man in the IED hole. While some Marines were shooting him with their rifles, other members of the squad were shooting the stolen AK-47 rifle into the air to make it sound like a firefight was occurring. After the Iraqi man was dead, the Marines scattered the expended AK-47 brass next to the body, removed the plastic restraints, and placed the AK-47 rifle next to the body.
The next morning the local police brought a body to the neighbors for identification, saying he had been killed by the Americans. Family members recognized the man and the body was sent by the Iraqi police to the local hospital. The victim's face was swollen beyond recognition and he had been shot in the mouth.
By other accounts he was shot four times in the face.
The official autopsy results have not — as of the time of the Article 32 hearings for Jodka, Shumate, and Magincalda — been made public.
Murder and kidnapping charges
The Marines involved, members of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines3rd Battalion 5th Marines
3rd Battalion 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed "Dark Horse", is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and consists of approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors...
("3/5"), 1st Marine Division, have been placed in confinement in Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...
pending possible charges. Press reports noted it was unusual for Marines to be placed in the brig
Military prison
A military prison is a prison operated by the military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, enemy combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime...
before charges have been filed, suggesting concern by authorities the men may be considered a flight risk.Under military law
Military law
Military justice is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states use special judicial and other arrangements to enforce those laws, while others use...
the defendants could face the death penalty. These Marines were brought back from Iraq with no restraint and had stops along the way back to Camp Pendleton. They were free to roam at Camp Pendleton upon arrival and until the next day and none of them made any attempt to flee. They were only, then, put in shackles and chains and taken to the Brig.
On June 21, 2006 the Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
news services reported that the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
will announce charges of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
against seven Marines and one Navy Hospital Corpsman: Corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
Marshall L. Magincalda, Corporal Trent D. Thomas, Lance Corporal Robert B. Pennington, Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
Brian Scott "Christian" Kennedy , Lance Corporal Jerry E. Shumate Jr., Private First Class
Private First Class
Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...
John J. Jodka, and Lance Corporal Tyler A. Jackson, Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons, Lance Corporal Jason Finley The charges will also include kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
, making false official statements, and larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
. Staff Sargent Christian Kennedy was not found guilty and was relieved of his squad and as team leader of second platoon third squad. Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons and Lance Corporal Jason Finley were not involved in the incident as they were in the south west part of the village chasing insurgents.About a dozen Marines involved in that case remained under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and none have been charged with any criminal offenses, but other actions were taken by the United States Marine Corps. Staff Sargent Christian Brian Scott Kennedy and Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons both were sent to back to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii to serve with the 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Unit, In December 3rd 2006 a CH-46 helicopter crashed in Anbar Province, Iraq. killed in n the crash was Cpl. Joshua C. Sticklen,
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/article_651bcb78-abce-554a-b76c-3286f00df1d6.html#ixzz1cwcCOPSz
Congressional hearing promised
Shortly after the incident came to light, the House and Senate armed services committeesUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services
The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
intended to hold hearings into the Hamdania events as well as the Haditha massacre. However, no hearings have been announced.
Investigation uncovers unrelated assaults by the same battalion
In the course of the military investigation, additional assault charges were made against Hutchins, Shumate, and Thomas, as well as against three other Marines from the same battalion who were not involved in the alleged murder, all of which were dropped later. Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons, Staff Sargent Brian Scott Christian Kennedy, and lance Corporal Jason Finley were not charged with any crimes.A seventh Marine, and a infantry officer, is also expected to face assault charges. An attorney familiar with the military investigation expects the charges will relate to the use of physical violence to extract information from suspected insurgents in the Hamdania area.Subsequent reports reveal that these assault charges, which were all dropped, were related to activities occurring half a month earlier on April 10, 2006, also in Hamdania, in which three civilians were brutalized by US Marine personnel. It was disclosed that the Marine officer was 2nd Lt
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. Nathan P. Phan, who later admitted he beat the civilians to the point of nearly killing them, choked two of them, and placed a loaded M9 service pistol into the mouth of the third civilian. Phan is also charged with making a false official statement. Phan's attorney states that all charges are without merit.
Magincalda and Jodka face Article 32 hearings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
On August 30, 2006, separate military hearings were initiated for Magincalda and Jodka under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military JusticeUniform Code of Military Justice
The Uniform Code of Military Justice , is the foundation of military law in the United States. It is was established by the United States Congress in accordance with the authority given by the United States Constitution in Article I, Section 8, which provides that "The Congress shall have Power . ....
on several charges each, including murder. Reports returned recommended a General Court Martial (the IO report for Magincalda is not specific recommendations of specific charges for Court Martial).
Other members of the squad charged in the Hamdania incident were expected to have their Article 32 hearings in September and October 2006.
Article 32 hearings are analogous to grand jury investigation
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
s in that they function to determine if there is sufficient evidence to support a trial. In place of a jury, the decision will be made by the ranking officer at Camp Pendleton, Lt. General James Mattis
James Mattis
James N. Mattis is a United States Marine Corps general and the current commander of United States Central Command. Having replaced David Petraeus on August 11, 2010, he previously commanded United States Joint Forces Command from November 9, 2007 to August 2010 and served concurrently as NATO's...
, based on a recommendation from an Investigating Officer.
According to Gary D. Solis
Gary D. Solis
Gary D. Solis is an Adjunct Professor of Law who teaches the laws of war at the Georgetown University Law Center. He is an expert on the laws of war....
, professor at Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...
and former Marine Corps prosecutor, it is likely that prosecutors will be able to get at least one of the eight squad members to cooperate with the promise of a reduced sentence, as some of them potentially face the death penalty.
On October 4, 2006, Bacos revealed through his lawyer Jeremiah Sullivan that he will testify against the Marine defendants. The details of that plea deal and his proferred testimony were not released at the time. Defense attorneys are expected to object that testimony allegedly obtained under coercion as unreliable, and also to argue that Iraqi accounts of the incident are also suspect.
In spite of defense statements that their clients' Article 32 hearings showed weaknesses in the prosecution's caes, on September 25, 2006, Mattis recommended that Jodka, Shumate, and Magincalda face a general court martial for murder. According to Mattis' official statements, the defendants no longer face the death penalty.
October 2006: Petty Officer Bacos testifies against Marines
On October 7, 2006, military prosecutors reached an agreement with Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos in which charges against the corpsman would be reduced to kidnapping and conspiracy in return for his testimony.According to Bacos, the Marines set out that night to capture an insurgent who had been captured and released several times. They agreed in advance if they could not get the insurgent, they would "get someone else". Knocking on the door of one house, they took the home owner's AK-47 rifle and a shovel from his yard. They proceeded to another house which turned out to be the home of the unidentified Iraqi man. They allegedly took this man from his home, allegedly bound his hands and feet, then placed him in a hole. The squad opened fire on this man as Hutchins put a call into the command center requesting permission to fire on an insurgent. At the same time, Bacos fired an AK-47 into the air to simulate the sound of a fire fight. After the squad fired upon this man from a distance, Hutchins fired three rounds into his head. Thomas fired seven to 10 more rounds into his chest to check he was dead. Pennington then pressed Awad's fingerprints onto a shovel and AK-47 they had brought to implicate him as an insurgent.
"I knew what we were doing was wrong," Bacos testified. "I tried to say something and then I decided to look away." Since this time, Jodka and Jackson have also testified and Shumate, through his attorney, has signaled an intention to take a plea deal and testify at the remaining defendants trials."I wanted to tell Staff Sargent Christian Kennedy and Sargent Scott Dylan Simmons, but no one likes a rat" Bacos testified.
November 2006: Shumate gets 21 months after striking conspiracy plea
In November 2006, Lance Corporal Jerry Shumate was jailed for 21 months after he pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault of an Iraqi man who was killed in the town of Hamdania in April. Shumate also admitted conspiracy to obstruct justice. In return for his guilty pleas, other charges including murder, kidnapping, assault and conspiracy were dismissed. During his testimony at Camp Pendleton in California, Shumate said that the squad had been looking for Iraqis planting IED's when the men agreed a plan to kill a known insurgent. Four of the squad from the 2nd platoon of Kilo Company from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment left to abduct him, Shumate said. When they returned with a prisoner, he thought he was "told to fire" by the squad leader and fired between 10 and 20 rounds at the detainee.The team leader gave no such order to be followed, and was on the other side of the village under fire with two other Marines.Eight men were originally charged with kidnapping the Iraqi man and trying to cover up his killing by planting a gun and a shovel next to the body to make him look like he was planting bombs. He was seized from his home after the suspected insurgent could not be found. Other US marines based at Camp Pendleton are under investigation over a separate incident in November 2005 in which 24 civilians were killed in the Iraqi town of Haditha. (North County Times and other online reports 22 November 2006) As of April, 2009 only 3 of the Haditha Marines still face any charges at all.February 2007: Pennington gets eight years in plea deal
On February 18, 2007, the fifth Marine to be tried, Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, received an eight year jail sentence after agreeing to plead guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping charges. In return for his cooperative testimony against the remaining three defendants, prosecutors dropped additional charges of murder, larceny, and housebreaking. The initial sentence was reduced from 14 years to eight in return for his cooperation. Pennington served a few months of the sentence for his role in the murder and was granted clemency and released from prison on August 11, 2007.Staff Sargent Christian Kennedy gets a other than honorable discharge for loosing command and control of his unit.Kennedy is then
Diagnosed with PTSD,and suddenly demanded a divorce from his wife, abused alcohol and left his base without permission,
and assaulted various people while drinking coffee one morning in Bldg.1863. Brian Scott Christian Kennedy received an article 15, and a article 16 special session was convened to end the reduce sentence which was initially given. Kennedy spent one hundred thirty two days in the brig and was released from active duty November 24, 2008. Prosecutors say Kennedy led the squad that also dragged a retired Iraqi policeman from his home and killed him in the village of Hamdania in 2006.
August 2007: Hutchins found guilty of murder
On August 2, 2007, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III was found guilty of (*unpremeditated murder) by a military court-martial jury. In addition, Hutchins was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement and larceny. He was acquitted on charges of kidnapping, assault and housebreaking. He was sentenced to 15 years in military prison for his role in the case; this is the longest sentence given to any of the conspirators in this case and the only additional confinement given to any of the three Marines who went to trial in this case: Hutchins, Thomas, and Magincalda, as reported in the August 3rd issue of California's North County Times. Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, commanding general of United States Marine Forces Central CommandUnited States Marine Forces Central Command
Marine Forces Central Command commands all United States Marine Corps forces assigned to United States Central Command. They do not have any actual combat units but do command units that are attached from other Marine Commands...
, turned down a request to issue Hutchins a pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
but did reduce the sentence to 11 years. Hutchins served his sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks
United States Disciplinary Barracks
The United States Disciplinary Barracks is a military prison located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army post in Kansas....
at Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
while pursuing an appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
; his conviction was overturned in April 2010 due to an inappropriate dismissal of one of his attorneys before trial.
Initial confusion over the village name 'Hamdania'
Some accounts, including the original U.S .government press release, incorrectly gave the name of the village as Hamandiyah or Hamadiya instead of the correct Hamdania . A variant spelling is Hamdaniyah. A number of unrelated locations in the region share a similar name including Al-Hamdaniya MunicipalityBakhdida
Bakhdida , also known as Baghdeda, Qaraqosh, Karakosh or Al-Hamdaniya, is an Assyrian town in the northern Iraq Ninawa Governorate, located about 32 km southeast of the city of Mosul amid agricultural lands, close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian cities Nimrud and Nineveh. It is connected...
near Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
.
External links
- Hamdaniya/The Execution of Hashim Al-Zobaie - A Document Archive
- US military clearing-house page on Iraq war crime investigations, including the Hamdania incident
- initial USMC news release May 24, 2006
- 'No question' Iraq killing was murder by the Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
May 29, 2006 - US leaders worried by Iraq killings by Agence France-PresseAgence France-PresseAgence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
June 2, 2006 - Military to Charge 8 in Iraqi Civilian's Death by the New York Times June 2, 2006
- Iraqi family tells their side of story by Nancy A. Youssef of Knight RidderKnight RidderKnight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
June 3, 2006 - Marines got name wrong of Iraqi town where civilian died by Knight RidderKnight RidderKnight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
June 5, 2006 - Hamdania Defense Strategy Begins to Unravel (Analysis) by Chris Roach of Americas Future Foundation, August 30, 2006