Marine Found Not Guilty In Hawaii Hazing Trial

Published February 25, 2012 1:09AM (EST)

KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP) — A military jury has decided a Marine is not guilty of hazing a fellow lance corporal who killed himself in Afghanistan.

The panel of three officers and five enlisted Marines found Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III not guilty Friday in a court-martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

He was acquitted of charges involving the assault, cruel treatment and humiliation of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, of Santa Clara, Calif. Lew was a nephew of U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif.

Lew fatally shot himself with his machine gun at their Afghanistan patrol base last April.

Orozco is the last of three Marines to be court-martialed for the alleged hazing of Lew. Another lance corporal last month pleaded guilty to assault. A jury found their squad leader not guilty of humiliating and demeaning Lew.


By Salon Staff

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