FORT HOOD, Texas – Two former guards convicted in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal testified at Army Pfc. Lynndie England’s military trial Thursday that England was impressionable and under the sway of her soldier boyfriend, whom prosecutors have labeled the ringleader of detainee abuse.
Robert Jones, now a policeman in Baltimore, and Pvt. Ivan Frederick said the dominant presence of Pvt. Charles Graner trumped military rank to make him the de facto leader of the prison section where the abuse occurred.
Graner surrounded himself with people with weaker personalities, including England, Jones said. Graner also testified Thursday, saying England trusted him.
But another convicted former guard, Pvt. Jeremy Sivits, said England appeared to enjoy one incident in 2003 in which prisoners were stripped, forced to masturbate and stacked in a pyramid. She was laughing, he said.
“She seemed to be having a good time,” Sivits said.
England, 22, became the most recognizable of the Abu Ghraib soldiers when the photos of naked detainees on leashes and in other demeaning poses became public. She is charged with seven counts of conspiracy and abuse that carry a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.
Jones and Frederick were called as prosecution witnesses, but their testimony may help the defense as it tries to convince a jury of five Army officers that England was trying to please Graner when she posed for the photos.
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