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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 13th,
2007 - Both Sides Trade Jabs at Hearing for Marine |
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Both Sides Trade Jabs at Hearing
for Marine By Rick Rogers San Diego Union-Tribune January 13, 2007 Camp Pendleton – “Let's
touch gloves. Let's do it.” Lt. Col. William Pigott used
those words to open yesterday's hearing for a Camp Pendleton officer charged
with assaulting three Iraqis. He anticipated a bruising
day of legal sparring. Sure enough, the defense soon accused three naval
investigators of fabricating evidence, while the prosecution suggested that a
witness lied about such misconduct. Pigott had to cut short the
session by early afternoon. He wanted to hear from the investigators in
question, but only one of them was available to take the stand. Base
officials have not announced when the hearing will resume. Yesterday's developments
stem from a case in which some Camp Pendleton Marines allegedly assaulted
several suspected insurgents they detained April 10 in Hamdaniya, Iraq. The highest-ranking
defendant, 2nd Lt. Nathan P. Phan of Sacramento, is accused of putting an
unloaded pistol into a detainee's mouth and beating or choking two others.
Prosecutors have also charged him with making a false official statement to
agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. A conviction could
bring a sentence of up to 29 years in prison. NCIS agents took statements
from a few Marines under Phan's command concerning the alleged assaults.
Phan's civilian attorney, David P. Sheldon, said those investigators tried to
produce incriminating evidence by adding false material to the statements. “We believe in good faith
that there has been misconduct,” Sheldon said. He made the assertion after
Lance Cpl. Christopher Faulkner testified that NCIS agents altered key points
of a statement he gave them in June. Faulkner said he told the
investigators that he never witnessed any detainee abuse by Marines in his
unit, yet they tampered with his statement so it read that he saw Phan put a
gun in a detainee's mouth. Maj. Donald Plowman, the
lead prosecutor, told Pigott that he has serious doubts about Faulkner's
claims of NCIS fabrication. Plowman asked Faulkner why he signed the
statement if its contents were untrue. Faulkner said he was on
guard duty at the time, so he felt rushed and didn't read the entire
document. Earlier in the hearing, NCIS
agent Kelly Garbo testified that she and her fellow investigators did nothing
illegal. “We do not put false
information in statements,” she said. The assault charges against
Phan and other Marines arose from the military's probe into a separate
alleged incident in Hamdaniya. On April 26, eight members
of the Camp Pendleton-based Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment
allegedly abducted and executed Hashim Ibrahim Awad. Four defendants in that
case have pleaded guilty to lesser crimes, accepting prison sentences of less
than a year to 21 months after promising to testify against the other four
defendants during their upcoming courts-martial. Military officials said they
learned about the April 10 assaults while investigating Awad's death. Yesterday's court session
was the second day of Phan's pretrial hearing. Pigott eventually will
recommend whether Phan should proceed to court-martial, but the final
decision rests with Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general of Camp
Pendleton's 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the U.S. Marine Corps Central
Command. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070113-9999-1m13phan.html |