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April 20th,
2007 - Marines go after Testimony with Immunity News article by the Los Angeles
Times |
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Marines go after Testimony
with Immunity Prosecutors are building their case against troops charged in the
killing of two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq. By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times April 20, 2007 Camp Pendleton - Military
prosecutors are building their case in the killing of two dozen civilians in
Haditha, Iraq - considered the war's most serious abuse incident involving
Marines - by granting immunity to compel testimony. Marine officials announced
Tuesday that charges against Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, 24, of Chicago had
been dropped in exchange for his testimony. Now prosecutors have
provided immunity to an officer who arrived at the scene after a Marine was
killed but before other Marines stormed three houses, killing the occupants.
The officer, Lt. William Kallop, has not been charged. With the grant of
immunity, he is compelled to testify. Prosecutors are arranging
witnesses in particular against Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, the squad
leader. As the senior enlisted man, he was responsible for giving orders. In December, four enlisted
Marines were charged with murder in the deaths of 24 people, including women
and children, in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha. Four officers were
charged with not investigating the deaths thoroughly. The prosecutors' strategy is
similar to that used in a case involving a killing in Hamandiya, Iraq, in
which a Navy corpsman and several enlisted Marines were given lenient sentences
on reduced charges in exchange for testimony against Marines considered more
culpable in the execution-style slaying of an Iraqi. Prosecutors now will not
have to rely solely on Iraqi witnesses or reports by agents of the Naval
Criminal Investigative Service. "When you're dealing
with a Marine jury, testimony from other Marines is the most powerful kind of
testimony. Nothing else compares," said a lawyer familiar with the
cases. Prosecutors allege that the
Marines went on a rampage Nov. 19, 2005, after a roadside bomb exploded
beneath a Humvee, killing one Marine and injuring two. Officers initially
reported that the Iraqis died in a firefight between Marines and insurgents. In an interview with the CBS
program "60 Minutes," Wuterich said he fatally shot five young men
near a taxi and, although he was sorry for the killing of civilians, thought
the storming of the houses by throwing in grenades and entering with a burst
of gunfire was appropriate. "We cleared these
houses the way they were supposed to be cleared," said Wuterich, who is
charged with 13 counts of unpremeditated murder. External link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-haditha20apr20,1,1751349.story Marine Officer
Receives Immunity in Haditha Killings Case By Josh White Washington Post Friday, April 20, 2007; A26 The only Marine officer at
the scene of the attacks on residential homes in Haditha, Iraq, that left
nearly two dozen civilians dead in 2005, has received immunity in the case.
The move precludes Marine officials from charging him with a crime and paves the
way for his eyewitness testimony in trials related to the slayings and
alleged coverup. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James
N. Mattis, who oversees the Haditha cases, approved immunity for Lt. William
T. Kallop on April 3, part of an agreement that includes an order for him to
"cooperate and truthfully answer all questions" posed by
investigators and lawyers in the case, according to documents obtained by The
Washington Post. Kallop became the second central player in the shootings to
be granted immunity, and he is expected to testify in hearings for seven
Marines and officers charged in connection to the shootings. Kallop arrived at the scene
of a huge insurgent roadside bomb on Nov. 19, 2005, after one Marine was
killed and two others ordered five civilians out of a white car and gunned
them down. Kallop and other Marines said they came under small-arms attack
from a nearby home, and Kallop told Naval Criminal Investigative Service
officials that he ordered a team "to take the house," according to
investigative documents. Marines immediately stormed
two houses and killed numerous men, women and children, including some still
in their beds wearing pajamas. Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, who led the team
and has been charged in connection with 13 deaths that day, has asserted that
he and the rest of his unit were following their rules of engagement when
they entered the homes, tossed fragmentation grenades and then fired into
rooms. "The Marines cleared it
the way they had been trained to clear it, which is frags first," Kallop
told investigators in 2006. He has talked with authorities since his grant of
immunity, officials said. "It was clear just by the looks of the room
that frags went in and then the house was prepped and sprayed like with a
machine gun and then they went in. And by the looks of it, they just . . .
they went in, cleared the room, everybody was down." Later, he told
investigators: "I'm convinced that we did nothing wrong." Kallop, who is scheduled to
deploy back to Iraq with his unit later this year, has never been charged
with a crime as a result of the Haditha incident. He has an important role in
the case because he was the only officer at the scene and was involved in
reporting the incident up the chain of command. He told investigators that he
reported the civilian casualties and argued that there was never an attempt
to hide the situation. Authorities have alleged that senior members of the
Marine battalion ignored the case and failed to properly investigate it. Richard McNeil, an attorney
who represents Kallop, declined to comment yesterday. Two sources close to
the case said yesterday that as many as eight Marines have received immunity
to testify, including one who allegedly shot the civilians from the white car
and who has implicated Wuterich in those killings. Sources said officials
also granted immunity to a military intelligence Marine who documented the
civilian deaths in photographs immediately after the shootings and thought
nothing was improper. Defense lawyers representing
officers who have been charged with not investigating the case felt that
Kallop's immunity should also clear their clients. Kevin McDermott, who
represents company commander Capt. Lucas M. McConnell, said his client
listened to Kallop's version of events to guide his decisions. "He relied upon the
reports of the sergeant and the lieutenant as to what happened that
day," McDermott said of McConnell. "If Kallop sticks to his story,
then I don't see anything he should be responsible for." External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902862.html |