FORT HOOD, Texas, July 8 (UPI) -- The judge hearing the court-martial of the Army private shown in Iraqi prison abuse pictures has refused a defense request that he leave the case.
Col. James Pohl said the defense team of Pvt. Lynndie England failed to show evidence of bias on the colonel's part so he will hear the court-martial, which is expected to begin in August or September, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday. It is expected to be the last court-martial in the Abu Ghraib scandal.
Pohl threw out an earlier plea of guilty by England, who, as a 19-year-old Army reservist, was assigned to guard duty at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. She was shown in several photographs depicting prisoner abuse and degradation, including one in which she was holding a leash attached to a naked prisoner.
England had worked out a plea agreement for a reduced prison sentence for a guilty plea earlier this year, but Pohl said there was evidence England was acting under orders when the abuse photos were taken and so refused the guilty plea.
The Washington Post reported Friday England plans to plead innocent in the new court-martial. She could be sentenced to 11 years in prison if found guilty.
