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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 12th,
2007 - Pretrial Hearing under Way for Marine |
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Pretrial Hearing under Way
for Marine Four Iraqis to testify about assault, execution By Rick Rogers San Diego Union-Tribune January 12, 2007 Military officials yesterday
said they will bring four Iraqis to Camp Pendleton to testify against Marines
charged with kidnapping and executing a man in Hamdaniya. Eight Camp Pendleton service
members are accused of killing Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26. Four have
pleaded guilty to lesser crimes as part of their plea bargains, while the
others are awaiting courts-martial. The witnesses are scheduled
to arrive late this month or in early February for the first of those trials.
They are also expected to testify about an April 10 incident in which some
Camp Pendleton Marines allegedly assaulted several Iraqis. One defendant in the April
10 case, 2nd Lt. Nathan P. Phan of Sacramento, began his pretrial hearing
yesterday. He is charged with three counts of assault and one count of making
a false official statement to investigators. Those charges stemmed from a
broad investigation into Awad's death. During Phan's court session,
Chief Warrant Officer Wesley Wagner said the Marine Corps is trying to
arrange transportation for the Iraqi witnesses. Those individuals include a
sheik who has helped U.S. forces in the Hamdaniya area and Khalid Hamad
Daham, one of three men whom Phan is accused of beating and choking. Phan's pretrial session,
called an Article 32 hearing, is the equivalent of a grand-jury proceeding.
It allows prosecutors and defense attorneys to present evidence to an investigative
officer, who then recommends whether the defendant should proceed to
court-martial. Lt. Gen. James Mattis,
commanding general of the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary
Force, will make the final decision on whether Phan should face trial. Yesterday's hearing was
filled with spirited debate. “I don't know that I've ever
seen a weaker case,” said David P. Sheldon, the civilian defense attorney for
Phan. “This case is all smoke and mirrors.” The prosecution called on
two witnesses in an attempt to prove that Phan assaulted Daham, Hassam Hamza
Fayall and Ali Haraj Rbash with enough force to kill them. But those witnesses – Lance
Cpls. Saul Lopezromo and Jerry E. Shumate Jr. – did not say they saw Phan
strike anyone. They did testify that Phan was present when Sgt. Lawrence G.
Hutchins III choked two Iraqis until they passed out during separate
interrogation sessions. Lopezromo also said he did
not hear Phan order Hutchins to choke a suspected insurgent who had allegedly
detonated a roadside bomb that killed a Marine. Instead, Lopezromo testified
that Phan asked Hutchins if he knew how to apply a chokehold and then watched
as Hutchins performed the maneuver on the Iraqi. “Hutchins just did it. The
tall, lanky guy choked out. Then he started crying when he came to,”
Lopezromo said. Hutchins then sprayed soda
up the blindfolded man's nose, and Phan had a translator tell him it was
acid, Lopezromo testified. Phan allegedly told the suspected insurgent that
he would have to cooperate with the Marines before they would help him with
his injuries. Lopezromo said such
interrogation tactics paid big dividends, including the Marines' obtaining
information that led them to a kidnapping cell and a sniper. Shumate, one of the
defendants who entered into plea bargains for the April 26 Hamdaniya murder
case, might have given the most interesting testimony of the day. Shumate told of an oath that
he and his fellow unit members took after being held on suspicion of killing
Awad. The oath emerged while the servicemen were being transported by truck
to an airfield for the trip back to the United States. “We were talking about how
screwed we were because a lot of us admitted to killing Awad. We came up with
the idea that we would say our statements (to investigators) were false and
that we were coerced into making them,” Shumate testified. “Then Hutchins
came up with the idea of taking such an oath by raising our hands.” Shumate said all the
servicemen present, including Phan, raised their hands. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070112-9999-1mi12phan.html |