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PLYMOUTH - If he could clean the mess and clear his name, Lawrence Hutchins III would just as soon stay in the Marines.
His family will be satisfied to get him out of the brig in California and home to Manomet.
A month after the local Marine’s military conviction of killing an Iraqi civilian, relatives remain optimistic that Hutchins will still win a reduction in his 15-year prison sentence. The case is under review by the commander of all Marines in the Middle East.
Hutchins’s father, Lawrence Hutchins Jr., said his son has already seen an improvement in his terms of confinement since his Aug. 2 court martial conviction on the unusual charge of unpremeditated murder.
Hutchins is being held in a pod with other military prisoners at the Camp Pendleton brig and is allowed privileges like library and television access not granted when he was still a pretrial detainee.
Hutchins Jr. speaks with his son regularly by telephone. He said Larry and his lawyer met with Lt. Gen. James Mattis a week after the trial to make their plea for clemency.
Mattis has already ordered the release of all others involved in the April 2005 shooting of an Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania, Iraq.
Prosecutors accused Hutchins, a Marine sergeant, of masterminding the abduction and shooting of the man while trying to track down insurgents planting roadside bombs.
Sgt. Hutchins maintained at trial that he was not acting on his own.
Hutchins Jr., who attended the trial with his wife, said testimony revealed that a superior officer had discussed just such a plan with Sgt. Hutchins and his men. While the lieutenant maintained he never ordered an attack, the suggestion was clear, Hutchins Jr. said.
Hutchins Jr. said Mattis is also considering evidence barred from the trial for security reasons.
“There’s definitely some things, some paper work that might shed light on things, that were not shown before because it was classified information,” Hutchins Jr. said. “He didn’t just pull this thing out of the air.”
Hutchins Jr. said his son loved being a Marine and was stung by the reduction in rank to private and the dishonorable discharge. “He’s a proud Marine. If the whole thing could ever be put behind him he’d stay in the Marines if he could,” he said.
Hutchins Jr. hopes his son’s recent advancement in the Marines as well as the limited scope of the Hamdania incident might also earn some consideration from the general.
Hutchins is expected to be moved from the Camp Pendleton brig if the 15-year sentence is not reduced. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is the likely destination for military sentences of more than 10 years. A shorter term would be likely be served in California.
Hutchins Jr. said he was not familiar with published reports speculating on a reduction in his son’s sentence. A California newspaper last month reported widespread speculation the sentence would be reduced to five years.
His family remains hopeful the general will reduce his son’s sentence to time served, he said, as Mattis did with others serving time in the case. After Hutchins conviction, Mattis ordered the release of one co-defendant serving an eight-year sentence.
A spokesman for the Marine Corps said the conviction and sentence will not be official until Mattis completes his review of the case.
Congressman William Delahunt, D-Massachusetts, meanwhile, has requested an opportunity to meet with Mattis about the Hutchins case.
Delahunt said Wednesday he hopes the general reviews the dispositions of others in the case as well as the handling of cases from prior military conflicts. Hutchins’s sentence seems disproportionate compared to others military sentences, he said.
The Army lieutenant convicted of the premeditated murder of 22 civilians at My Lai in Vietnam, for instance, was originally sentenced to life in prison but later saw his sentence reduced to 10 years. Lt. William Calley ultimately served only three and half years of house arrest.
Delahunt had a representative attend the Hutchins trial daily.
“We all share in the culpability and the responsibility. Everyone. Those of us home at night with our families enjoying the summer breezes off the ocean. One can just imagine the conditions they are under, every day, every second....the fear and the uncertainty surrounding rules of engagement and the pressure to protect each other,” Delahunt said.
“They are living in a world where everything is uncertain, and in a world where insurgents are very active. We all have to take responsibility and not lay it all on soldiers like this decent young man acting under tremendous stress. There’s no reason to compound this tragedy. It’s a tragedy for all,” Delahunt said.
Hutchins Jr. echoed some of the congressman’s sentiments.
“All these guys are over there so we can sit home and enjoy the summer. It’s hard to grasp. As bad as people think they have it around here, how expensive things are, they have no idea. Never a day goes by that we can forget about it,” Hutchins Jr. said.
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