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October 20th,
2007 - Marines to Face Courts-Martial for Iraq Killings News article by the Associated Press |
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Marines to Face Courts-Martial
for Iraq Killings By Chelsea J. Carter Associated Press October 20, 2007 San Diego - The
highest-ranking U.S. serviceman to face court-martial involving combat since
Vietnam was ordered to trial Friday for failing to investigate the killings
of 24 Iraqis, including women and children, in Haditha two years ago. Another Marine was also
ordered to face court-martial for charges including involuntary manslaughter. Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani
faces charges of dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on
allegations that he mishandled the aftermath of the Nov. 19, 2005, shootings,
which followed a roadside bombing that killed a Marine driver. Chessani was commander of
the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment that has been the
focus of the biggest prosecution of U.S. troops in the Iraq war. He is the most senior U.S.
serviceman since the Vietnam War to face a court-martial for actions or
decisions made in combat, said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor
and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center. One of Chessani's men, Lance
Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, was ordered to face a court-martial on charges of
involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault. He is
one of four Marines originally charged with murder in the killings. The decision by Lt. Gen.
James Mattis to send Tatum to court-martial comes after the investigating
officer said last month that the evidence was too weak to prosecute him. But
Tatum will not be tried on the murder count he originally faced. Tatum, of Edmond, Okla.,
shot and killed civilians, but "he did so because of his training and
the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit
murder," Lt. Col. Paul Ware wrote last month in recommending he not face
court-martial. Chessani's civilian defense
attorney, Brian Rooney, told The Associated Press he was disappointed with
the general's recommendation. "I can tell you this
decision by Gen. Mattis today is going to have a negative affect on all
officers, including battalion commanders," he said, adding it would
undermine the trust between commanders and their troops. "Are they going
to be able to trust the word of their junior officers, senior enlisted and
junior enlisted?" If convicted on all counts,
Chessani faces up to three years in prison. He is the second colonel to
be court-martialed over actions in Iraq. Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan of
Fredericksburg, Va., was convicted of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison,
said Tom Umberg, a retired Army colonel and former military prosecutor The decision to send Chessani
to trial mirrored the conclusion the hearing officer reached at his
preliminary hearing. Col. Christopher Conlin said Chessani "failed to
thoroughly and accurately report and investigate a combat engagement that
clearly needed scrutiny." In his report, Conlin, an
infantry officer, blasted Chessani for failing to go to the scene of the
November 2005 killings immediately after they had occurred, even though he
knew 24 "neutrals" were dead. "To not have made every
attempt to be on scene as this action developed, or to not have at least
reviewed this action in detail ... is in itself negligent," Conlin
wrote. "The fact that one fireteam was solely responsible for 24 deaths
in all direct fire actions should have solicited more than passing interest
from the senior leadership of the battalion." At Chessani's preliminary
hearing, held in June at Camp Pendleton, several witnesses testified local
Iraqis had complained to Chessani in the days after the killings and that he
promised to look into what had happened. But Chessani said he never
ordered a formal investigation because he believed the deaths resulted from
lawful combat. Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a
spokesman for the Marine Corps at the U.S. Central Command, which includes
Iraq and Afghanistan, said Chessani and Tatum will be arraigned on the charges
and required to enter pleas. A date for those hearings has not been set. External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5229866.html Marines ordered
to trial in Haditha killings By Mark Walker North County Times October 20, 2007 Camp Pendleton - A Marine
officer and an enlisted man have been ordered to trial for their roles in the
slayings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2004 and its aftermath, Marine
Corps officials announced Friday afternoon. Lt. Gen. James Mattis
ordered Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani and Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum to trial by
courts-martial. Tatum faces trial on charges
of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.
Charges of murder and negligent homicide against him were dismissed. Chessani will be tried for
dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order. Both men can ask for a
military jury that consists of one-third of their peers or trial by judge.
They are the first of eight men originally charged to be ordered to trial. A decision on what will
happen to the enlisted man who faces the most murder counts, Staff Sgt. Frank
Wuterich, is pending. Tatum has acknowledged that
he killed civilians, doing so "because of his training and the
circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder,"
Lt. Col. Paul Ware wrote in his recommendation earlier this year that he not
face court-martial. One of Tatum's attorneys,
Kyle Sampson, said he was disappointed Mattis did not follow Ware's
recommendation. "Lance Cpl. Tatum did
not commit any crime," he said. "We will take the fight to the
courtroom. We will vigorously challenge the government's case and nothing
will be left undone in defense of this fine young Marine." Sampson also said that by
prosecuting Tatum, the "success of future infantry combat operations is
at stake." Chessani was relieved of
command when the battalion returned from Haditha last April. One of Chessani's attorneys,
Brian Rooney, said he and his client were disappointed, but not deterred.
"We believe this decision will have a permanent, negative impact on
Marine Corps trust tactics up and down the chain of command," Rooney
said. "We welcome the chance to try the case before a jury of Lt. Col.
Chessani's peers." The Haditha case is one of
the largest prosecutions of U.S. troops since the March 2003 invasion of
Iraq. The incident has mixed domestic war politics with the fog of war and
the rules of engagement, spawning two massive investigations and a series of
hearings at Camp Pendleton over the last several months. "This demonstrates that
Gen. Mattis has a mind of his own when it comes to making a decision and that
the recommendations of the hearing officer are just that - only
recommendations," said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps judge and
prosecutor, adding that he believes Mattis has been fair in deciding to
withdraw charges against some of the others accused. "The circumstances
of the incident - combat under fire - have played a significant role, and he
has given the benefit of the doubt to some of those men." The Iraqis were killed after
a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee, killing one Marine and injuring two
others on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005. Several children and women
were among the dead. Chessani and three other
officers in the chain of command at Haditha were charged with dereliction of
duty and related offenses for failing to order an immediate, full-scale
investigation. Two of the officers, Capts.
Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell, subsequently had their charges dismissed. A
hearing for the remaining officer, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, is pending. The killings occurred as
Wuterich led his Kilo Company squad from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine
Regiment in an assault in response to the bombing in the early morning hours
of Nov. 19, 2005. Nineteen Iraqis were killed
inside or near three homes that Wuterich and his men stormed in search of the
bomber and other insurgents. Five Iraqi men who emerged
from a car that drove up moments after the bombing were killed by Wuterich
and another man originally charged in the case, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz. Wuterich later told
authorities he believed the Iraqis in the car were tied to the attack and
presented a threat. Wuterich was charged with 17
of the deaths. Ware also presided over his hearing and has recommended 10 of
the murder charges be dropped and that Wuterich be tried on seven counts of
negligent homicide in the deaths of five children and two women. Ware also said that even if
Wuterich is ordered to trial, he doubts a military jury will see or hear
evidence sufficient to convict. In April, charges against
Dela Cruz were withdrawn in exchange for his testimony. Charges against Lance Cpl.
Justin Sharratt were dropped by Mattis in August, who issued a lengthy
statement at the time saying there was insufficient evidence and that
Sharratt had done his best in trying to determine friend from foe at Haditha. Sharratt, who was charged
with three counts of murder, told authorities he believed the men he killed
were preparing to fire at him. Last month, Mattis was
instrumental in career-ending letters of censure being issued by the
secretary of the Navy to Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Huck and two colonels also
at Haditha who failed to order an investigation. None of those men was
charged criminally. Mattis has been the
convening authority over the Haditha case in his role as head of Marine Corps
forces in the Middle East, a role he is about to relinquish for a new
assignment and promotion to four-star general. His replacement, Lt.
Gen.-nominee Samuel Helland, will assume the role of convening authority, a
sweeping power granted commanding officers under the Uniform Code of Military
Justice. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/10/21/news/top_stories/10_62_3510_19_07.txt |