Marine's Wife Pleads For Mercy

Reyna Hutchins is living at a friend's Oceanside house with her 6-year-old daughter Kylie.

The Massachusetts native is in San Diego County hoping her husband will be soon be freed from the brig.

"I can't see myself living without him, and he can't see himself living without me," Reyna said in an exclusive interview with NBC San Diego.

Her husband, former Marine Sgt. Larry Hutchins, was one of seven U.S. service members convicted of kidnapping and killing an unarmed Iraqi civilian in 2006 in Hamdania.

It was a court martial that made world headlines because of the allegations of what happened that day.

A group of Marines and a Navy Corpsman were accused of killing an Iraqi who they thought was an insurgent.  When it was learned he was an innocent civilian, the men allegedly covered up the incident.

"I know that he is sincerely sorry for everything that has happened to, not just the man and his family, but everyone that has been affected," Reyna said about her husband.

Still, she believes her husband was unfairly given an 11-year sentence because he was the squad leader.

The others involved have already been released from the brig, some after serving 18 months.

"All of us have felt that way for quite some time, about this case that my husband has been used as a scapegoat," Reyna said.

Last June,  a military court overturned Hutchins' conviction, finding he did not get a fair trial.

Hutchins was released after serving nearly five years in the brig.

His freedom allowed him to be with his wife, and their daughter Kylie.

"He's sure the best guy in the world,"Kylie said.

For the first time last year, Hutchins and his daughter got to attend the father-daughter dance at her school.

Then, last month the military reinstated the conviction and sent Hutchins the brig at MCAS Miramar, where he is currently awaiting a decision by the Naval Clemency and Parole Board.

"It's really sad," Kylie said about her dad. "I miss him."

"No parent wants to see their child go through any type of pain," Reyna said. "I walked into her room the other night, and she was sound asleep, and she was sleeping with a picture of her dad."

Reyna is two months pregnant with the couple's second child.

She is hoping the Navy board will recommend clemency, and the Secretary of the Navy will approve it.

"Without him, it's extremely hard to survive for us," Reyna said. "I am a single mother, and I need him."

If Hutchins' isn't given clemency, he will be eligible for parole in about three months.

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