Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III was released July 20 after the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ordered that he be freed from the brig at the Marine Corps Miramar Air Station in San Diego, the Associated Press reports.
The Navy can order the case be retried or prosecutors can appeal to the Supreme Court. The Navy issued a statement Friday saying it was exploring those options and a decision is expected next month.
Hutchins will be transported to Camp Pendleton where he would check in to his new unit at the base's headquarters, said Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel. The Camp Pendleton unit Hutchins will be assigned to will determine his job assignment.
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Hutchins’ military attorney, Maj. Babu Kaza, said Hutchins will live off base in nearby Oceanside with his wife and two children.
“The emotions I am feeling right now are hard to describe,” Hutchins said in a statement issued through his attorney. “I am overcome. This is all I ever wanted.”Once his release paperwork was processed, Hutchins was to be transported by Marine Corps officials to Camp Pendleton, where he would check in to his new unit at the base’s headquarters, said Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel.
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Hutchins led an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping an Iraqi man from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death in the village of Hamdania.
Hutchins has said he thought the man — who turned out to be a retired policeman — was an insurgent leader.
None of the other seven squad members served more than 18 months.
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