New Hearing Set In Lynndie Case

The U.S. Army scheduled an Article 32 hearing for next week in the Iraqi prisoner abuse case against Pfc. Lynndie England, Fort Hood officials said Thursday.

England, a West Virginia reservist whose guilty plea was rejected this month by a military judge, has been charged with three counts arising from abuse of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003.

The Article 32 investigation is the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation and is set to begin Tuesday. An officer will receive evidence and make a recommendation on whether to send the case to a court-martial.

It's the second Article 32 hearing for England. The first one, held last August at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, led to the charges that resulted in the failed plea deal. Tuesday's hearing will start the legal process over again in her case.

England's plea was rejected after reputed abuse ringleader Charles Graner's account cast doubt on whether she knew what she was doing when she participated in the abuse. Under military law, a guilty plea could only be accepted if the judge was convinced England knew that what she was doing was illegal.

Graner, who England says is the father of her infant son, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role after a January court-martial at Fort Hood.

England is seen in some of the most notorious photographs in the prison scandal, including one of her holding a naked prisoner on a leash.