"You can't have a one-person conspiracy."

In the trial of Lynndie "Thumbs Up" England, the judge isn't buying that whole "few bad apples" argument:

FORT HOOD, Texas -- A military judge Wednesday threw out Pfc. Lynndie England's guilty plea to prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, saying that he was not convinced that she knew that her actions were wrong at the time.

The mistrial for England, a 22-year-old reservist who appeared in some of the most notorious photographs from the 2003 abuse scandal, means the case gets kicked back to the military equivalent of a grand-jury proceeding.

The action came after Graner, the reputed ringleader of the abuse, testified at England's sentencing hearing that pictures he took of England holding a naked prisoner on a leash at Abu Ghraib were meant to be used as a legitimate training aid for other guards.

When England pleaded guilty Monday, she told the judge she knew that the pictures were being taken purely for the amusement of the guards.

Pohl said the two statements could not be reconciled.

"You can't have a one-person conspiracy," the judge said before he declared a mistrial and dismissed the jury.

I think this pretty much means that England is likely to go to jail for a longer sentence than allowed under her plea agreement. Military courts work differently in that they don't take the guilty plea at face value; it has to be proven.

That the judge says she didn't know her actions were wrong at the time suggests that she was getting instructions from up the chain of command... a principled defense lawyer might use this crack as a way to force the higher-ups to testify. With a grand-jury hearing able to consider whatever evidence it wants, and to follow it along wherever it takes them, the trial then enters the great unknown of uncovering the real answers about Abu Ghraib. Does this means Sanchez gets subpaoenaed? Gonzales? Rumsfeld? I doubt it would unravel this way, but at this point "I was just following orders" is the only defense England's lawyers could use, no?

Still, I fully expect that the military will fight tooth and nail to keep the higher-ups out of this proceeding, and England will probably get scapegoated and sentenced to 20 years instead of 10. AmericaBlog had a comment today about how interesting it is that two of the most high-profile people being made accountable for this scandal are women: England and Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski. How convenient. The old boy's network is alive and well.