SAN DIEGO — A military appeals court Thursday threw out the murder conviction of a Camp Pendleton Marine serving 11 years in connection with the 2006 kidnapping and slaying of an Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania.
The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals in Washington ruled that an attorney for Sgt. Larry Hutchins was improperly dismissed before his trial.
The case is now back with the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, which will decide whether to appeal the decision or order a retrial.
"I'm so happy," his mother, Kathy Hutchins, told The Associated Press. She expressed gratitude "for these professionals because they restored my faith in my country. Wow!"
Hutchins said she does not know yet whether Hutchins will be released from military prison in Leavenworth, Kan.
"Let's hope Larry can come home," she said. "It's not like the charges can be dropped, there still can be a retrial, but we hope that he can come home and hold his daughter."
Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were charged in June 2006 with kidnapping and murdering Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, two months earlier. They were accused of taking him from his home, marching him to a ditch and fatally shooting him.
Hutchins, of Plymouth, Mass., was the only defendant convicted of murder and the only one currently in prison.
Navy corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos of Franklin, Wis., pleaded guilty to kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap and making false official statements. Marine Lance Cpl. John J. Jodka III, of Encinitas, Calif., pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, of Tracy, Calif., pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Marine Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., of Matlock, Wash., pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice.