The latest case to go to court-martial trial alleging hazing preceding the suicide death of Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew in Afghanistan is about "crossing the line and piling on" physical tasks, government prosecutor Maj. Hanorah Tyer-Witek said Tuesday.
Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III, 22, is charged with humiliating Lew, dereliction and maltreatment for allegedly ordering Lew to do pushups and leg lifts with a sandbag and pouring sand on his face, and assault for placing his boot on Lew’s back the night he killed himself.
Lew, 21, had fallen asleep on sentry duty four times in less than two weeks, according to an investigation, and fellow Hawaii Marines with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, admitted they were frustrated with him.
In opening arguments, Tyer-Witek told the military jury to keep in mind those charges and to consider — with Lew already ordered to dig a new foxhole in the middle of the night by a sergeant — whether the additional tasks constituted unlawful punishment.
But defense attorney Capt. Lisa Woo said Orozco was a standout Marine attempting to get Lew to dig the new foxhole as ordered and using the limited tools he had — physical activity — to keep Lew alert in the process.
Lew, who was from Santa Clara, Calif., was "becoming troubled, becoming detached" on the deployment and "stopped caring," Woo said.
On patrols, Lew fell behind, and he talked about getting out of the Marine Corps, she said. He was tough physically, "but mentally he couldn’t push through," Woo said. Lew was told he would receive nonjudicial punishment for falling asleep and that he was not cut out to be an infantry Marine, the defense attorney said.
At 3:43 a.m. April 3, while crouched in the new foxhole, Lew shot and killed himself, the Marines say.
Marines previously testified that on that same night, after he had been caught sleeping again, he was told by another Marine to carry around a sandbag representing the weight of his guard duty.
Woo said Orozco didn’t dump a sandbag on Lew’s face. "That didn’t happen," she said. Lance Cpl. Donnell Klinesmith, who watched some of Orozco’s interaction with Lew, said he did not see a sandbag being dumped on Lew.
Lance Cpl. Jacob D. Jacoby, 21, reached a plea deal Jan. 30 and was sentenced to 30 days’ confinement after he admitted he kicked and punched Lew on his Kevlar helmet.
A military jury, meanwhile, found Sgt. Benjamin Johns, 26, not guilty of charges of dereliction and of humiliating and demeaning Lew.
