OCEANSIDE, Calif. – A Marine sergeant says he has returned to his old job as a marksmanship instructor at Camp Pendleton after his murder conviction in a major Iraq war crime case was overturned.
Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins spoke Friday for the first time since the June 26 decision by the military's highest court.
The ruling marked a major blow to the Defense Department's prosecution of war crime cases.
Hutchins says he wants out of the Marine Corps but must remain while the Navy decides whether to let the ruling stand or appeal to the Supreme Court.
Hutchins led an eight-man squad that killed a retired Iraqi police officer in April 2006 in the village of Hamdania. Hutchins says he thought the man was an insurgent leader.
