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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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April 10th,
2007 - Haditha Prosecution Said to be Fraught with Problems |
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Haditha Prosecution Said to
be Fraught with Problems By Mark Walker North County Times April 10, 2007 11:52 PM PDT North County - The U.S.
government's prosecution against eight Camp Pendleton Marines in the deaths
of 24 Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha in 2005 is fraught with
problems, according to sources with intimate knowledge of the case. The difficulties include
conflicting statements from Iraqis whose testimony led to the charges and an
incomplete forensic reconstruction of the events on Nov. 19, 2005, that have
resulted in prosecutors' delaying the start of hearings against some of the accused,
the sources said. Also at issue are
interrogations of suspects conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service in Iraq during which agents allegedly refused to provide attorneys
for some of those who asked for them and refused the men bathroom breaks, the
sources contend. "It's a mess," one
source said of the investigation that prompted a worldwide outcry when the
first came to light - one of two Iraqi civilian-killing cases involving Camp
Pendleton Marines. An examination of where the
Haditha case stands was cobbled together by the North County Times through
multiple interviews and corroborations by people familiar with evidence
gathered since the investigation began last spring. Marine prosecutors won't
comment on the case or any of the issues cited by the sources under a
standing order that forbids them from doing so. Eight men from the 3rd
Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment are accused of wrongdoing in the slayings that
included several women and children and took place shortly after a roadside
bomb destroyed a Humvee and killed a lance corporal. Four of the accused are
enlisted men facing unpremeditated murder and negligent homicide charges. The
other four are officers accused of dereliction of duty for allegedly failing
to properly investigate and report what happened. Hearings delayed The first court action in
the case was to begin this month. Article 32 hearings in which the
prosecution and defense lay out their cases before a hearing officer to help
determine if the charges should move on to court-martial proceedings were
slated for two of the defendants, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the
highest-ranking man charged in the case, and Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt. Those hearings have been
postponed, however, and the tentative schedule now calls for Chessani's
hearing to begin May 30. A firm date for Sharratt's hearing, which the
government asked to postpone because it did not have all of its evidence
ready, has not been established. Each of the accused remains
assigned to Camp Pendleton and each is working in tasks that keep him on the
base. None is jailed, as were eight other men from another base regiment who
were charged in June with killing one Iraqi civilian in April 2006 in the
village of Hamdania. The Marine Corps has said
the men in the Hamdania case, in which five of the accused reached deals with
prosecutors and pleaded guilty, were potential flight risks and therefore
were placed in the brig after being returned from Iraq. When the Haditha defendants
were charged Dec. 21, the Marine Corps said it did not consider them flight
risks and therefore none was ordered jailed. 12-hour interrogations When the Haditha case
reaches court, defense attorneys are expected to challenge the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service's reconstruction of the Haditha events and ask agents
why they refused to provide attorneys for suspects who asked for them. The
service is a Navy agency made up of civilian law enforcement agents. Some of the interrogations
that took place in Iraq before the regiment returned to Camp Pendleton in
April took place over as long as 12 hours, according to one knowledgeable
source, and the suspects were not allowed to take bathroom breaks. Instead,
they were given bottles to use to relief themselves, the source said. The treatment of the
suspects was so bad that at least two officers who were not a direct part of
the investigation complained to their superiors, the source said. Efforts to reach agency spokesmen
in Washington for a response Tuesday were not immediately successful and
telephone messages were not returned. In January, a team of
prosecutors from Camp Pendleton went to Iraq and spent several weeks in
Haditha interviewing witnesses and seeing the four houses that were assaulted
following the roadside bomb attack that killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas of
Texas. Part of the reason for that
trip, according to several sources, was because the forensic reconstruction
done by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was considered lacking. Unlike the Hamdania case,
where the victim's body was exhumed and examined by a forensic pathologist at
Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, there were no exhumations of victims in
Haditha and therefore no forensic medical reports. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich,
who led the enlisted men, has acknowledged ordering the shooting of five men
who emerged from a car that happened upon the scene shortly after the
bombing. He also has acknowledged
ordering the assault of the homes where the 19 others died. His Article 32
hearing is tentatively set to begin June 4. Wuterich and attorneys for
the other men charged with homicide contend that while the civilian deaths
were regrettable, the Marines' actions were within the military's rules of
engagement. Wuterich told the CBS news
magazine "60 Minutes" last month that he was following what he
understood to be the rules of engagement when he ordered his men to assault
the homes where most of the civilians died. In the wake of that
broadcast there has been an outpouring of support for Wuterich, his lead
attorney Neal Puckett said Tuesday. A 'political scapegoat' Jack Zimmerman, a Texas
attorney hired to represent Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, said Tuesday that he
was just finishing his reading of the thousand of pages of investigative
documents generated by the government. "Based upon that
information, we remain confident that Lance Cpl. Tatum responded the way he
should have responded," Zimmerman said. Brian Rooney, a Michigan
attorney helping represent Lt. Col. Chessani, announced Tuesday that a
defense fund had been established for their client, whom he contends is a
"political scapegoat." A former Marine officer,
Rooney and Robert Muise of the Christian-based Thomas More Law Center in Ann
Arbor, Mich., are representing Chessani with the assistance of appointed
military attorneys. Rooney said Tuesday that if
the case moves beyond an Article 32 hearing and goes to trial, the cost of
defending him could reach $1 million. The center defends and
promotes anti-abortion causes and is representing Chessani free of charge,
but says it is accepting donations to underwrite its expenses. Chessani faces up to three
years in prison and dismissal from the Marine Corps if convicted. The enlisted men facing
murder charges could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/11/news/top_stories/1_22_254_10_07.txt |