A military jury June 18 recommended that a U.S. Marine twice convicted of murdering an Iraqi civilian get no additional prison time.
The jury returned its decision in the case of Sargeant Lawrence Hutchins III of Plymouth, Massachusetts, after a retrial at Camp Pendleton, California.
Hutchins served about seven years of an 11-year sentence after his first conviction in 2007, but courts threw out that conviction because of errors.
The trial's convening authority, Marine Corps Lieutenant General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., can accept, reject or modify the jury's recommendation, which included a bad conduct discharge for Hutchins from the Marine Corps.
Hutchins was convicted June 17 of unpremeditated murder in the 2006 killing of a disabled police officer and grandfather in Hamdania, Iraq.
Prosecutors said Hutchins' squad planted an AK-47 and a shovel by the body to make it appear the victim was an insurgent planting an explosive.
Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
