Texas

Judge rejects England’s plea in abuse case

A military judge Wednesday threw out Pfc. Lynndie England’s guilty plea to abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, saying he was not convinced the Army reservist who appeared in some of the most notorious photos in the scandal knew her actions were wrong at the time.

The mistrial marks a stunning turn in the case, which will be reviewed again by Fort Hood’s commander, Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, who will decide what charges, if any, England should face. If she is charged, the case would go back to a military equivalent of a grand jury hearing, an Article 32 proceeding, prosecution spokesman Capt. Cullen Sheppard said.

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

Washington, D.C.

Military finds remains of second missing pilot

Military investigators said Wednesday they located the remains of the second of two Marine Corps fighter pilots whose planes crashed in south-central Iraq earlier this week.

The remains of the first pilot, Maj. John C. Spahr, 42, of Cherry Hill, N.J., were found Tuesday.

The second pilot’s identity was being withheld by the military until his family could be notified, according to a Central Command statement.

Both pilots were flying single-seat F/A-18 Hornet fighters about 30,000 feet over south-central Iraq when radio contact was lost Monday evening. Officials said previously that investigators concluded the two planes probably collided in the air. They had launched from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

Earlier Wednesday, officials disclosed that wreckage of both F/A-18 Hornets had been found, and they said the search for the second pilot was continuing.

The Central Command statement provided no details about the recovery of the pilot, including whether the body was found near the fuselage wreckage.