SAN DIEGO – Defense lawyers say the Marine Corps should not be retrying a Marine sergeant whose murder conviction in a major Iraq war crime case was overturned by the military's highest court after he served half of his 11-year sentence.
Attorney Chris Oprison said he will argue that point during the two-day hearing for Lawrence Hutchins III that begins Thursday at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego.
The military ordered a retrial for Hutchins last year after the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces found his rights were violated by interrogators and overturned his conviction.
Hutchins' squad was accused of kidnapping an Iraqi man from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death.
Hutchins has said he thought the man was an insurgent.
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