Defense Urges Leniency in Soldier’s Sentencing

Defense lawyers sought leniency for Pfc. Lynndie R. England at a hearing Tuesday to determine her punishment in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, with a psychologist testifying that the reservist was oxygen-deprived at birth, speech-impaired and had trouble learning to read.

West Virginia school psychologist Thomas Denne -- the first defense witness -- said England’s learning disabilities were identified when she was in kindergarten. And although she made progress in school, she continued to need help.

“I knew I was going to know Lynndie England for the rest of my life,” Denne said.

A military jury of five men and one woman was seated Tuesday to make a sentencing recommendation for England, 22, who pleaded guilty Monday to seven counts of mistreating prisoners. She said she let her comrades talk her into going along with the abuse.

England, from Fort Ashby, W.Va., accepted responsibility for the smiling, thumbs-up poses she struck for photographs taken at Abu Ghraib that made her the face of the prisoner abuse scandal.

The charges carry up to 11 years in prison. Prosecutors and the defense reached an agreement that capped the sentence at a lesser punishment; the length was not released. She will get the lesser of the military jury’s sentence or the term agreed on in the plea bargain.

Prosecutor Capt. Chris Graveline told jurors in opening statements that England and half a dozen other soldiers in the 372nd Military Police Company took great pleasure in humiliating the prisoners.

The prosecution rested its sentencing case without calling witnesses.

Graveline said England and Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr. -- the abuse ringleader and the father of England’s child -- knew it was wrong to mistreat the detainees and to take the photos, “but they did it anyway for their own amusement.”

Graner is scheduled to testify for the defense today. He issued a statement Tuesday saying that he was unhappy that England had opted for a plea deal rather than fighting the charges she faced.