Lejeune corpsman pleads guilty during court martial
September 09, 2009 7:18 PM
AMANDA HICKEY
A Camp Lejeune hospital corpsman pleaded guilty Wednesday during special court martial proceedings to reckless endangerment for pointing a pistol at the chest of a lance corporal while deployed to Iraq.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Spencer H. Hamer, with 2nd Tank Battalion, was sentenced to 60 days of confinement and reduced in rank to seaman by Military Judge Maj. Glenn Hines.
Sometime in November — Marine officials said they do not have an exact date — while at Combat Outpost Hawas, Hamer pointed a 9mm pistol at Lance Cpl. Emerson E. Boutin for between five and 10 seconds and asked him “do you trust me?”.
The “so-called trust game,” as it was referred to during court proceedings, typically involves a non-commissioned officer pointing a weapon at a junior Marine and asking if they trust them.
Boutin, who earlier pleaded guilty to committing the same offense at the battalion level, testified that he said “no” and Hamer proceeded to start trying to catch rounds as they ejected from the pistol.
“Before I put (the pistol) away I got the crazy idea … to eject a round and catch it midair. I failed on my first attempt and I realized how dumb that was so I put my weapon away,” Hamer said during the proceedings.
Hamer said he was unsure if the magazine was fully inserted into the pistol and that he held the magazine with his pinky and ring finger to keep it from falling out.
“Any number of things could have gone wrong even though I mistakenly believed it was safe. … The more I think about it now had anything gone wrong I could have easily hurt or killed him,” Hamer said.
The unit was on their first patrol of their deployment, which was Hamer’s second and Boutin’s first, and had been guarding munitions for approximately 10 hours at the time of the incident, officials said.
“We’d been out there for about 10 hours; we had no idea when our relief was coming. I wanted a break from the monotony … I absolutely lost my mind, there’s no good reason for that. It was a stupid mistake,” Hamer said.
Minutes before Hamer asked Boutin “do you trust me,” Sgt. Michael C. Singles asked Boutin the same thing, according to court testimony. Boutin testified that when Singles asked, he answered “yes.”
Singles has also been charged with reckless endangerment and is awaiting an Article 32 hearing.
“I didn’t know HM2 (Hamer) as long as Sgt. Singles,” Boutin said.
The Marines and sailors are taught to “treat every weapon as if it’s loaded” and “do not point a weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot,” Hamer said.
“(The weapons safety rules) have been in the back of my mind since boot camp,” Hamer said.
Hamer also said that the incident is not one he intends to ever repeat.
“I thought I was being relatively safe, not completely; but now looking back at it, I’d like to go back and slap myself,” he said.
Another Camp Lejeune Marine will face reckless endangerment and other charges Thursday during a special court martial.
Cpl. Matthew Nelson was charged with involuntary manslaughter, 10 counts of reckless endangerment and negligent discharge of a firearm in a March 9 incident where he allegedly asked Lance Cpl. Patrick Malone, 21, if he trusted him a moment before pulling the trigger of his M9 sidearm and shooting Malone in the forehead.
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Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States. military-defense-lawyer-recentcases.htm.
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