Military hearing set for Lynndie England
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-04 02:00

Earlier this year, a petite, mop-topped soldier became a central figure in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that shocked the world when she turned up in numerous photographs, smiling and giving the thumbs-up in the presence of naked, hooded Iraqi detainees.

Lynndie England (C) arrives with her legal council in Fayetteville, NC for her Article 32 investigation hearing. England is charged with several counts, including one of conspiring to commit maltreatment of an Iraqi detainee, three counts of assault against Iraqis, and several others. [AFP]

A military hearing was set to start Tuesday that will begin gathering evidence to see if Pfc. Lynndie England should be court-martialed for her actions. The Article 32 hearing is the military equivalent of a grand jury in civilian court.

The hearing will be the first chance in court for the 21-year-old Army reservist's attorneys to make their case that she was following orders from higher-ups when she was photographed mocking naked detainees at Abu Ghraib.

Witnesses on a list the defense released earlier this year included Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top generals, although military officials say it is doubtful they will appear. Other witnesses may be called by telephone from Iraq.

Lynndie England (L), the military police officer who became the public face of inmate abuse at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, arrives with her attorney Kristin Didonato at a hearing to determine if she will be tried on charges ranging from prisoner abuse to committing indecent acts in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, August 3, 2004. [Reuters]

England, from Fort Ashby, W.Va., is seen smiling for the camera in one picture, cigarette in her mouth, as she leans forward and points at the genitals of a naked, hooded Iraqi. Another photo shows her holding a leash that encircles the neck of a naked Iraqi man lying on his side on a cellblock floor, his face contorted.

England is charged with 13 counts of abusing detainees and six counts stemming from possession of sexually explicit photos which the Army has said do not depict Iraqis. The maximum possible sentence is 38 years in prison.

England is one of seven reservists from the Cresaptown, Md.-based 372nd Military Police Company who have been charged in the scandal. One, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a year in prison.

"The government has leveled their sights on Ms. England," civilian defense lawyer Rhidian Orr said last week. "I feel that the U.S. government is taking full control of the issue and attacking Ms. England when she's not necessarily to blame."

More than 100 members of the company returned to America and were reunited with their families Monday at the Fort Lee Army base in Petersburg, Va. The unit was called up in February 2003 and mobilized at Fort Lee three months later.

Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr., 35, another soldier in England's unit, also has been charged with abuses and was involved in a romantic relationship with England; he faces adultery charges for allegedly having sex with England last October. She was visibly pregnant in court last month, and her lawyers have said the child is Graner's.

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