Judge seals photos in Lynndie England court-martial News
Judge seals photos in Lynndie England court-martial

[JURIST] The military judge in the court-martial of Pfc. Lynndie England [Wikipedia profile; JURIST news archive] for her role in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq on Tuesday barred the release of photos in her upcoming trial [JURIST report], many of which were published when the scandal came to light in early 2004. Many of the photos depict England posing while taunting Iraqi prisoners. Some of the photos have still not been publicly released, including several sexually explicit ones, and the unreleased shots will only be shown to officers on the jury. Echoing comments he made in England's initial mistrial earlier this year, Judge Col. James Pohl also expressed some doubt in a final pre-trial hearing about England's central defense that she was complying with orders from superiors and was unable to make her own judgments. Although she originally pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to abuse charges, Pohl subsequently threw out that plea deal [JURIST report] after hearing evidence that England thought she was following orders at the time of the abuse. Jury selection in England's new trial is expected to begin Wednesday. Reuters has more.