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Court sentences England to 3 years

By Spc. L. B. Edgar

Pvt. Lynndie England, 372nd Military Police Company, is escorted by guards and her defense counsels, Capt. Jonathan Crisp and Capt. Katherine Krul, from Fort Hood’s Williams Judicial Center Tuesday night after she was sentenced to three years for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Pvt. Lynndie England, 372nd Military Police Company, is escorted by guards and her defense counsels, Capt. Jonathan Crisp and Capt. Katherine Krul, from Fort Hood’s Williams Judicial Center Tuesday night after she was sentenced to three years for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Spc. L. B. Edgar
FORT HOOD, Texas (Army News Service, Sept. 28, 2005) -- The last Soldier to be tried for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib was sentenced to three years confinement Sept. 27 at Fort Hood’s Williams Judicial Center.

Pfc. Lynndie England, administrative clerk, 372nd Military Police Company, was found guilty of all charges: conspiracy, maltreatment of subordinates, and indecent acts, by a panel of five male officers.

In addition to three years of incarceration, England was dishonorably discharged and reduced in rank to Private (E-1).

England received the sentence for three violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, all of which occurred at Iraq’s Baghdad Central Confinement Facility at Abu Ghraib between October and December 2003.

The prosecution opened their case against England with testimony by Pvt. Jeremy Sivits, 372nd MP Co. He said England stomped on the hands and feet of detainees.

“They were laughing, joking around,” Sivits said. He also said England posed for pictures with the detainees.

Pvt. Ivan Frederick Jr., military policeman, 372nd MP Co., the former noncommissioned officer in charge of Abu Ghraib’s Tier 1A, also testified the Soldiers responsible for the detainees were laughing and joking during the misconduct.

The testimony of two CID special agents established a timeline constructed of when the pictures depicting the detainee abuse were taken and that the detainees were not of a military intelligence value, but instead, were common criminals.

The defense counsel opened by calling Pvt. Charles Graner, 37, who was in an alleged relationship with England, 22, which resulted in their now 11-month-old child, prior to and during the time the misconduct occurred.

Graner said he told England to commit many of the acts of misconduct and that she did not stomp on the feet or hands of any detainees.

Graner, a former corporal in England’s unit, was previously sentenced for his role in Abu Ghraib.

Dr. Thomas Denne, England’s school psychologist, testified she suffers from a “complex language based processing deficit.” He said this causes her to have an overly compliant personality in the presence of perceived authority figures.

Similarly, Dr. Xavier Amador, a clinical psychologist who examined England, testified her clinical depression, language processing deficit, compliant personality trait, along with her abusive relationship with Graner, caused her to do whatever he told her to do.

According to Amador, there was “no way she could have formed an agreement to conspire with Corporal Graner.”

After the defense rested, the government recalled Sivits as a rebuttal witness. He said England seemed upbeat until the investigation began.

Psychologist Maj. Jennifer Lange, who interviewed England for the government, also testified during trial counsel’s rebuttal. She disputed Amador’s diagnosis, said England only exhibited some symptoms of depression and that compliant personality was not a “clinical defect.”

The defense counsel recalled Amador as their rebuttal witness. He said he disagreed with Lange’s diagnosis and that it took at least four hours to properly rule out mental disorders, rather than the two hours it took her to assess England’s mental health.

England’s defense team presented evidence that the accused, due to an underlying mental condition, was unable to agree with another to maltreat detainees, which is necessary for her to be found guilty of conspiracy. This defense is commonly referred to as a defense of partial mental responsibility. The panel members, however, inquired whether the accused knew right from wrong at the time of the charged offenses. The Military Judge, Col. James Pohl, in an attempt to clarify the issues raised by England’s defense team, instructed the panel that the evidence raised the issue of partial mental responsibility, but not the issue of full mental responsibility or the insanity defense.

Later Judge Pohl instructed the panel again on England’s defense of partial mental responsibility as well as England’s ability to understand her rights at the time she made the statement to Worth.

There “may be evidence that the accused did not fully understand the rights advisement before she gave the statement,” Pohl said.

Final statements began with trial counsel stressing England’s role in the mistreatment of detainees. Holding a picture of England posing with mistreated detainees, Capt. Chris Graveline, trial counsel, Staff Judge Advocate’s Office, III Corps, described the image. “She is enjoying. She is participating; all for her own sick humor,” he said. “She’s guilty as charged.”

On the other hand, Jonathan Crisp, defense counsel, Command Judge Advocate for the Edgewood Area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, depicted England as suffering from a complex mental condition as well as an unhealthy relationship with Graner at the time of the offenses.

“She is so extraordinary in her deficits,” Crisp explained to the panel. “She’s a follower. She’s an individual who was smitten with Graner and would do whatever he wanted to do.”

Graveline refuted Crisp’s assertion during trial counsel’s final statement rebuttal.

“You are not innocent because you’re a follower and not a leader,” Graveline said to England and the panel.

“Pfc. England was an active participant that night. She did more than blindly follow along. She is guilty of all of the charges. Thank you,” Graveline concluded.

Following two-hours-and-fifteen-minutes of deliberations, the panel found England guilty of all charges.

The verdict left England facing a possible 10 year prison sentence, but the defense counsel filed a multiplicity motion, claiming some of the specifications were too similar to be charged as separate.

As a result, Judge Pohl computed England’s potential confinement to a maximum of nine years.

The trial counsel began the sentencing phase of the court martial by playing excerpts of a video deposition. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, Combined Joint Task Force 7 spokesperson, United States Central Command, explained the impact England’s misconduct had on the unit’s mission in Iraq as well as on the Army.

“The reputation of the military was tarnished,” Kimmitt said.

Four defense witnesses, including a sociologist and a psychologist, testified on England’s behalf, that the conditions of Abu Ghraib were factors in her misconduct.

The defense again called Graner to answer questions on the awareness of England’s chain of command to the conditions of Abu Ghraib and mistreatment of detainees. The defense followed Graner by reading a stipulation of expected testimony from his former corrections supervisor, which characterized him as manipulative and abusive.

The defense closed their case with England’s unsworn statement, in which she apologized for her actions.

The trial counsel asked for four to six years during sentencing final statements.

“The sentence has to send a message,” Graveline said. “Send the message that needs to be sent: We will not tolerate this.”

Crisp said England had suffered enough for her misconduct. He asked the panel to give her a bad conduct discharge and send her back to West Virginia to raise her son.

Pohl instructed the panel to consider the following factors when sentencing England: age, family and financial difficulties, mental condition, military awards and victims.

One-and-a-half-hours later the panel returned a sentence of three years confinement, dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank to Private (E-1).

England was given 10 days for time served, credit for illegal pretrial punishment.

(Editor’s note: Spc. L.B. Edgar serves with the 7th MPAD.)

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