[JURIST] A military jury sentenced US Marine Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda [advocacy website] to 448 days confinement [press release] and demoted Magincalda to private Friday for his role in the April 2006 kidnapping and murder of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad [Wikipedia profile] in Hamdania [USMC timeline; JURIST news archive]. Magincalda, who was convicted [JURIST report] Wednesday of conspiracy to murder, larceny and housebreaking, and acquitted of more serious charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping, and making a false official statement, will not serve any additional time in detention as he has been in pre-trial confinement for the last 450 days.

Five defendants have pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in the death of Awad, who was removed from his residence and killed, then arranged with a shovel and firearm to appear as if he were planting an improvised explosive device. On Thursday, a military jury convicted Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins, III [JURIST report] of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement, and larceny. Hutchins could face life in prison. AP has more.