Lawyer says: US soldier facing Iraq abuse charges just followed orders
Wednesday, August 4, 2004 at 05:51AM
TheSpook
Lawyers for US Army Private Lynndie England are due back
in court here where they will defend their client against charges she
abused Iraqi detainees by claiming she was simply following orders.
England, 21, is confined to this sprawling military base while the
hearing against her which started Tuesday is completed. If the
presiding judge decides she should face a court martial, the one time
jailor could be looking at a maximum sentence of 38 years in an army
prison. Her defense team, headed by Richard Hernandez, signalled to the
media that it will argue in coming days that the abuse of Iraqi
detainees at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad last year was
"systematic" and approved by senior officers. "The government is doing
everything they can to make her a scapegoat," Hernandez told reporters
as he left the court hearing late Tuesday. [more]
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