Prosecution portrays abuse soldier as out of control

LYNNDIE ENGLAND was often sloppy at her paperwork job at Abu Ghraib prison because of illicit, late-night visits to the part of the facility where detainees were abused, her supervisor said yesterday.

The testimony by Specialist Matthew Bolinger at a pre-trial hearing continued the government’s theme of portraying Private England as one of a handful of out-of-control US Army reservists who took it upon themselves to photograph detainees in humiliating poses at the prison near Baghdad. Bolinger said England was repeatedly disciplined for sneaking into the prison’s fortified “hard site” to visit her boyfriend, Specialist Charles Graner, who is also charged in the case and is the father of the child England is carrying.

“Her performance was not so good,” Bolinger said. “She was sneaking out in the middle of the night, going to the hard site.”

Bolinger said England also was disciplined after being caught in bed several times with Graner beginning in July 2003. He said authorities tried several different punishments to keep her away from Graner and his part of the prison.

The prosecution’s case has been aimed at rebutting a defence claim that England was acting on orders from higher-ups to break down prisoners for questioning.

The hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will determine whether a court-martial goes forward against England on 13 counts of abusing detainees and six counts stemming from possession of sexually explicit photos. The maximum sentence is 38 years in prison. Defence lawyer Rick Hernandez contends the government is trying to shift its responsibility to a private for a scandal that has outraged the Arab world.

The prosecution’s case is flawed, he said, because investigatos didn’t look into allegations “at other camps where my client has never been. ... All the information out there indicates it is a systematic problem.”