Is Lynndie England a Victim or Victimizer?

May 2, 2005 — -- Pfc. Lynndie England, the U.S. Army reservist at the heart of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, pleaded guilty today to charges stemming from the scandal. But at the time she was photographed holding a naked Iraqi prisoner on a leash, England was in thrall to an older soldier and so depressed that she was "thinking about suicide," a defense psychologist told ABC News.

England, 22, pleaded guilty in a military court in Fort Hood, Texas, to two counts of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of committing an indecent act. A military jury will meet Tuesday to begin determining her punishment.

Although she could receive 11 years in prison, ABC News has learned that as part of today's plea agreement, England will receive no more than 2 ½ years in prison

Despite her guilty plea, England and her defense team have long maintained she was a pawn of higher-ups.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Xavier Amador, the psychologist for England's lawyers, says she was clinically depressed and in tears every day during the time the photos were taken.

"She couldn't think clearly," Amador said. "She was wishing she was dead, thinking about suicide."

Confronting her with the photos today, an Army judge questioned England about the incident in which she held a hooded, naked prisoner by a dog leash. England said it was her colleague and former boyfriend, Spc. Charles Graner, who put the strap around the detainee's neck and then handed it to her so he could take the picture.

"I assumed it was OK," England said, "because he had a background as a corrections officer."

In a May 2004 interview with CBS affiliate KCNC-TV in Denver, England said: "I was instructed by persons in a higher rank to stand there, hold this leash, they took a picture for psy-op [psychological operations]. That's all I know."

Asked if England was aware of her actions at the time, Amador said, "At the time and when I first met her, I think she had absolutely no idea."