|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
June 15th,
2007 - Marine Claims Self-Defense in Haditha News article by the San Diego
Union-Tribune |
|
Marine Claims Self-Defense
in Haditha Hearing centers on slaying of three Iraqis By Alex Roth San Diego Union-Tribune June 15, 2007 Camp Pendleton - A Marine
accused of executing three Iraqis in the city of Haditha insisted yesterday
that he acted in self-defense, opening fire only after one of the Iraqis
pointed a gun at him. “We did not execute any” of
them, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt read from an unsworn statement during his
pretrial hearing at Camp Pendleton. “I'm a disciplined Marine and have always
tried to act professionally with the civilian population.” Sharratt said he feared for
his life when he opened fire with a 9 mm pistol in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005.
He is charged with three counts of unpremeditated murder. “(I) would not change any of
the decisions I made that day,” he continued. “I would rather be tried by a
jury of my peers than be carried by six of my friends in a casket.” Sharratt's statement was
unsworn, meaning that he couldn't be cross-examined. His comments came on the
fourth day of his pretrial hearing, which will help decide whether he should
proceed to court-martial. Prosecutors have argued that
Jasib, Kahtan and Jamal Aiad Ahmed were innocent civilians whom Sharratt
killed without justification. In total, the prosecutors
accuse Sharratt and several other members of Camp Pendleton's Kilo Company,
3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment of murdering 24 civilians. Prosecutors say
the troops went on a rampage against those Iraqis after a fellow Marine was
killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day. Sharratt does not dispute
that he killed the Ahmed brothers in their home. But in his statement
yesterday, he insisted that they appeared to be insurgents and that at least
two of them had AK-47 rifles. One of the men pointed an
AK-47 at him when he entered a room, Sharratt said, and he tried to shoot
back but his machine gun jammed. So Sharratt drew his pistol and opened fire when
he saw one of the Iraqis pop out from behind a door, he said. Entering another room,
Sharratt saw several other men, at least one of them holding an AK-47, he
said. “I kept firing until my magazine was empty because I didn't know if
they had body armor on or suicide vests,” he added. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich
also entered the room and opened fire with an M-16, Sharratt said. Wuterich,
who is charged with 13 counts of unpremeditated murder for his actions in
Haditha that day, awaits his preliminary hearing. After killing the Ahmed
brothers, Sharratt said, he seized the AK-47s, handed them to another Marine
and hasn't seen the weapons since. Sharratt, who fought in the
battle of Fallujah in spring 2004, described joining the Marines as “my
lifelong ambition.” He also said, “Nobody could
really understand combat until they've been there.” Sharratt made his remarks a
day after another Marine suggested that Sharratt might have lied when he told
investigators that one of the Iraqis pointed a gun at him. The witness, Lance Cpl.
James Prentice, said Sharratt told him that his insistence about shooting in
self-defense “was just a story.” Yesterday, Lance Cpl. Trent
Graviss, who served in the same battalion, also testified about hearing
Sharratt say he had lied to investigators when questioned about the
shootings. “Until that day, sir, I
thought he was pretty honest,” Graviss said to a prosecutor. After the hearing ended,
Sharratt's father said his son's testimony, combined with other evidence,
“disproves any notion” that an execution took place in Haditha. “These Marines followed the
rules of engagement, used their training to survive and did not massacre
anybody,” said Darryl Sharratt of Canonsburg, Pa. Testimony is scheduled to
continue today. Besides Sharratt and Wuterich, five other Marines have been
charged with crimes ranging from unpremeditated murder to dereliction of duty
in connection with the Haditha incident. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070615-9999-7m15haditha.html Hearing officer:
Evidence does not support murder case By Mark Walker North County Times June 15, 2007 12:48 PM PDT Camp Pendleton - The officer
in charge of a military hearing expressed serious doubts Friday about the
government's prosecution of Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, one of three Marines
charged in the November 2005 shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians in the city
of Haditha. Lt. Col. Paul Ware, who will
recommend whether to send Sharratt to trial, challenged the prosecution,
saying the government's theory of the case does not warrant the three counts
of unpremeditated murder filed against Sharratt in December. "The account you want
me to believe does not support unpremeditated murder," Ware told the
lead prosecutor, Maj. Daren Erickson. "Your theories don't match the
reason you say we should go to trial." Ware's comments came as the
government and defense presented him with summations of the case on the fifth
and final day of a hearing that will determine if the 22-year-old rifleman
from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment will be ordered to
stand trial. Sharratt is accused of the
civilian equivalent of second-degree murder for shooting three Iraqi brothers
inside a home. A fourth man was shot by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who also
faces murder charges. Ware also suggested he is
inclined to believe Sharratt, who maintains the first two men he shot were
pointing AK-47 rifles at him, and that the killings were carried out in
self-defense. "To me it seems the
most important issue is whether the Marines perceived a hostile threat,"
Ware said. "It comes down to credibility to determine if this case
should go to trial." Prosecutors filed charges
against Sharratt based on interviews with relatives of the slain men, who
contended they did not have any weapons and were herded into the room and
shot in rapid succession. In a statement he read to
Ware on Thursday, Sharratt said that story is false and that the killings
stemmed from his belief his life was in danger. "I would not change any
of the decisions I made that afternoon," Sharratt said. Prosecutors agreed Friday
that the case centers solely on the competing version of events. The
discrepancy among accounts is enough to warrant the case going to trial,
Erickson told Ware. "The seminal issue in
this case is did the Iraqis have AK-47s?" Erickson said. "The
issues in this case are best resolved before a trier of fact." Ware seemed disinclined to
order a trial, however, questioning whether any Iraqis would be willing to
come to the U.S. to testify at trial if one is ordered. Even so, Ware said forensic
evidence presented by agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service
who found multiple bullet holes in the walls and curtains of the room does
not suggest execution-style killings. "What the evidence
points to is that the version of the Iraqis isn't really supported,"
Ware said. Defense attorney James Culp
centered his summation, which is similar to a closing argument, on the
forensic evidence, saying it fully supports Sharratt's account. The Marine
told Ware on Thursday that he emptied his 9mm pistol in the process of
shooting the three men. When his clip was emptied, Wuterich followed into the
room, shooting a fourth man with his M-16 rifle. "The most important
element is the forensics," Culp said. "The evidence completely
corroborates Lance Cpl. Sharratt's story." Culp also suggested that the
prosecution of his client is colored by politics surrounding the civilian
deaths in Haditha, which generated worldwide condemnation when first reported
by Time magazine in March 2006. Until then, the Marine Corps maintained the
civilians died when caught up in a bombing and in crossfire from a small arms
attack on the troops. "This is a new kind of
war, and this case is a result of the new kind of warfare," Culp said,
referring to insurgents who do not wear uniforms and mix within the civilian
population. "There's also politics involved here, and the politics of
the war is tearing at this nation." The 24 civilians who died
that day included several women and children, and 19 of the slain were killed
inside their homes. The killings took place as the Marines searched a series
of homes for insurgents after a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee, killing a
lance corporal and injuring two other Marines. Sharratt is accused of
killing men in the last house the Marines assaulted that day. Fifteen others
died inside three homes stormed by Wuterich and Marines other than Sharratt.
Five unarmed men in a car that drove up moments after the bombing were the
first to die. Culp suggested Sharratt was
unfairly lumped into the cases involving the other civilian deaths. "He charged into that
room at great risk to his own safety and killed those men before they killed
him. He deserves a medal," the attorney said. Ware said he will issue his
recommendation about whether to send Sharratt to trial to Lt. Gen. James
Mattis by July 1. Mattis is in charge of the case as head of Marine forces in
the Middle East. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the general can
accept or reject the hearing officer's recommendation. Wuterich, who is charged
with 13 counts of murder and who attended most of Sharratt's hearing, is
scheduled to go before a hearing officer in August. The other accused shooter,
Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, is scheduled to go before a hearing officer
starting July 9. A fourth Marine prosecutors
charged with murder, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, had charges against him dropped
in exchange for his testimony in the case against Wuterich. Four officers from the
battalion were charged with dereliction of duty for failing to order an
investigation into the civilian deaths. Hearings for two of those officers
have taken place with no decision announced yet whether they will be ordered
to trial. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/15/news/top_stories/1_01_090_12_00.txt |