Last week, the Upper management of Abu Ghraib was exonerated from any wrongdoing..
and this week... Lynndie England will do time
Rumsfeld, Wolfowicz, Rice, Ashcroft and B*sh are guiltier than Lynndie England
and her baby will go into foster care while she serves
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Pfc. Lynndie R. England, the 22-year-old woman who became an infamous presence in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse photographs, pleaded guilty today to seven of the nine counts against her, under an agreement with military prosecutors.
Private England had faced up to 16 1/2 years in prison if convicted on all full nine counts, which included conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment and indecent acts. But one of her lawyers, Capt. Jonathan Crisp, said last week that Private England would enter a guilty plea at the pretrial hearing today on seven counts and then face sentencing by a military jury. The reduced charges carry a maximum sentence of 11 years.
Two people close to the prosecution have said Private England can expect to receive no more than 30 months in prison.
When the proceedings, at Fort Hood, Tex., resume on Tuesday, a military jury will be seated to hear evidence on sentencing. That phase of the proceedings is expected to last up to seven days, possibly including weekends, according to a statement from the Fort Hood public affairs office. The statement said Private England was charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that occurred at the prison near Baghdad from October to December 2003.
At the hearing today, the judge, Col. James L. Pohl, rejected a defense motion to recuse himself. Captain Crisp, one of Private England's lawyers, had argued that it was not proper for Colonel Pohl to preside over her case because he had been involved in the other cases related to the Abu Ghraib scandal.
Captain Crisp said Private England's defense team would present evidence that she had a history of mental health problems and learning disabilities. He said her lawyers would also present evidence that another soldier, Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr., who military investigators say was the ringleader of the abuse and who was her boyfriend at the time, was a corrupting influence on her.
Private England, an Army reservist from West Virginia, was shown in photographs from the prison holding a leash around the neck of a naked and crawling Iraqi detainee. In other photos, she appeared grinning or giving a thumbs-up over naked detainees, holding a cigarette between her teeth.
She and six other soldiers implicated in the abuse were reservists with the 372nd Military Police Company based in Cresaptown, Md. Four have pleaded guilty in exchange for reduced punishments; one, Specialist Sabrina Harman, faces court-martial next month.
Mr. Graner was convicted and sentenced in January to 10 years in prison and dismissed from the military. He is in a military prison in Leavenworth, Kan. The seven soldiers have said they were following orders.
Nathan Levy reported from Fort Hood, Tex., and Christine Hauser from New York. Kate Zernike contributed reporting for this article.
