JAG CENTRAL

Army PFC Lynddie England, Convicted of Abuse at Abu Ghraib (AP)

From the AP (via Washington Post), this breaking update on testimony during the sentencing phase of Army PFC Lynddie England, the most notorious of the Abu Ghraib prison abusers. A whole slew of defense witnesses are testifying that the abuse was everybody's fault but hers:

Stjepan Mestrovic, a sociology professor at Texas A&M University, said officers in charge failed to control the guards, creating stressful conditions that disoriented England and led her to take part in mistreatment of detainees.

"She was caught up in this chaotic situation like everyone else," said Mestrovic, who also testified that officers at Abu Ghraib "knew or should have known what was going on."

That testimony was later supported by Pvt. Charles Graner, the reputed abuse ringleader now serving a 10-year sentence, who said he once severely beat a detainee while military intelligence personnel watched.
....
Also Tuesday, a New York psychologist said England came from an emotionally abusive family, was prone to depression and that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder even before deploying to Iraq.

Xavier Amador said England also had a deviant sexual relationship with Graner that affected her ability to know her actions were wrong.

"It changes your view of what's OK and what's not OK," he said. "You don't recognize indecent acts as readily as you would have."

ANALYSIS: Sentencing can be unpredictable with military panels. They don't always have the "hang 'em high" attitude that Hollywood would have you believe. If the defense is successful in making the panel believe these "experts", England may see only a year of prison time. The government needs to remind the panel that she took an oath and that she is responsible for her own actions, no matter what was going on around her. That may be an awfully tough sell to a panel considering England is only an E-3, and a rather dull one at that.

Categories: Lynddie+England, Abu+Ghraib