Judge throws out
Abu Ghraib guilty plea

FORT HOOD, Texas - A military judge Wednesday threw out Pfc. Lynndie England’s guilty plea to prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, saying that he was not convinced that she knew that her actions were wrong at the time.

Col. James Pohl entered a plea of not guilty for England to a charge of conspiring with Pvt. Charles Graner Jr. to maltreat detainees at the Baghdad-area prison.

The mistrial for England, a 22-year-old reservist who appeared in some of the most notorious photographs from the 2003 abuse scandal, means the case gets kicked back to the military equivalent of a grand-jury proceeding.

The action came after Graner, the reputed ringleader of the abuse, testified at England’s sentencing hearing that pictures he took of England holding a naked prisoner on a leash at Abu Ghraib were meant to be used as a legitimate training aid for other guards.

When England pleaded guilty Monday, she told the judge she knew that the pictures were being taken purely for the amusement of the guards.

'One-person conspiracy' not possible
Pohl said the two statements could not be reconciled.

“You can’t have a one-person conspiracy,” the judge said before he declared a mistrial and dismissed the jury.

FREE VIDEO England trial stopped May 4: The judge in Army Pfc. Lynndie England's trial changes the plea to not guilty on one count. NBC's Jim Cummins has details. MSNBC

Under military law, the judge could formally accept her guilty plea only if he was convinced that she knew at the time that what she was doing was illegal.

By rejecting the plea to the conspiracy charge, Pohl canceled that plea agreement.

Graner was called Wednesday as a defense witness on the second day of England’s sentencing hearing.

Graner, who is serving a 10-year sentence for his role in the scandal, said from the stand that one of the central acts of the case — in which England appeared in a photo holding a naked prisoner on a leash — was a legitimate prison procedure.

Graner said he looped the leash around the prisoner’s shoulders as a way to coax him out of a cell, and that it slipped up around his neck. He said he asked England to hold the strap while he took photos that he could show to other guards later to teach them this prisoner-handling technique.

At that point Pohl halted Graner’s testimony and admonished the defense for admitting evidence that ran counter to England’s plea on the conspiracy charge and one count of maltreating detainees.

The judge did not discuss the other five counts to which England had pleaded guilty.

England’s mother attended the hearing and brought England’s seven-month-old baby, reportedly fathered by Graner, to the courthouse. At one point, England turned to the courtroom sketch artist preparing to portray Graner on the witness stand and said: “Don’t forget the horns and the goatee.”

Upset that England pleaded guilty
Graner on Tuesday told reporters in a handwritten note that he was unhappy that England pleaded guilty to mistreating Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003.

slide show   Abu Ghraib images Feb. 16, 2006: Click "launch" to view released photos of alleged abuses at the prison near Baghdad. WARNING: Contains graphic images.

“Knowing what happened in Iraq, it was very upsetting to see Lynn plead guilty to her charges,” wrote Graner. “I would hope that by doing so she will have a better chance at a good sentence.”

Graner continues to argue that he and the other Abu Ghraib guards were following orders from higher-ranking interrogators when they abused the detainees.

England pleaded guilty Monday to seven counts of mistreating prisoners. She told the court that the physical beatings and sexual humiliation were done for the guards’ entertainment and took responsibility for the smiling, thumbs-up poses she struck for photographs that made her the face of the prisoner abuse scandal.

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