Marine gets no time, ordered discharged for killing Iraqi army private

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A lance corporal convicted Thursday of killing an Iraqi army private a year ago and who has spent the last 10 months in the Camp Pendleton brig will not serve any more time, a military jury decided Friday.

Lance Cpl. Delano V. Holmes smiled at his attorneys shortly after the sentence was announced in a base courtroom.

The jury that found Holmes guilty of negligent homicide and lying to investigators could have sentenced him to as much as eight years in prison. Although it decided he should not serve any more time, the panel ordered that he be reduced in rank to private and given a bad conduct discharge.

Before retiring to deliberate the sentence, the jury heard a prosecutor, Maj. Christopher Shaw, argue that Holmes should serve five to seven years in prison.

Shaw argued that Holmes has never apologized for his actions that led to the death of Pvt. Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin, a man he was standing guard duty with on Dec. 31, 2006.

"The accused does not care," Shaw said during his sentencing argument. "He has chosen to show no remorse and offered no apology."

Shaw, who also described Holmes as a "brutal killer" who stabbed or slashed Hassin more than 40 times, said the Marine should receive a dishonorable discharge.

One of Holmes' four attorneys, Capt. Ray Slabbekorn, pleaded with the jury to show leniency to the Indianapolis native.

"One time he feared for his life in a combat outpost and made a decision," Slabbekorn said. "That doesn't define this Marine."

Slabbekorn also argued that Holmes has remorse.

"He has. You can see that. He can barely hold himself together," he said. "This case is already a tragedy."

Slabbekorn also pointed out that Holmes has already spent 10 months behind bars in the base brig, where he was placed after being ordered out of Iraq and back to the United States.

The jury could have convicted Holmes of unpremeditated murder but instead chose the lesser offense of negligent homicide. It also convicted him of lying to investigators for giving a false version of the events that led to Hassin's death.

In a rambling statement to the jury late Thursday afternoon, Holmes never addressed the killing. Instead, he pleaded with the jury to "give him a second chance."......