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May 29th,
2008 - Defense Says Marine Was ‘Fall Guy’ in Haditha Case News article by the
Associated Press |
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Defense Says
Marine Was ‘Fall Guy’ in Haditha Case By Chelsea J. Carter Associated Press May 29, 2008 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
Marine intelligence officer was alternately portrayed at his court-martial
Thursday as a liar who helped cover up the killings of 24 Iraqi men, women
and children and the "fall guy" for a botched investigation. Lt. Col. Paul H. Atterbury,
the prosecutor, said in his opening statement that Lt. Andrew Grayson lied to
investigators to help cover up the Nov. 19, 2005, killings in the Iraqi city
of Haditha. But Grayson's defense attorney said the officer had no motive to
lie about the killings because he wasn't there when they happened. "Lieutenant Grayson is
nothing more than a fall guy in a botched investigation under intense media
pressure," Maj. William A. Santmyer told the jury of seven officers. Grayson, of Springboro,
Ohio, is the first of the three remaining defendants in the case to go to
trial. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and
dismissal from the Marine Corps, if found guilty of all charges. Atterbury told jurors there
are key undisputed facts in the case: A roadside bomb killed a Marine and
wounded two others and two hours later the squad's actions resulted in the
deaths of the 24 men, women and children. Four enlisted Marines were
initially charged with murder, though charges were later dropped against
three and reduced for the fourth, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. In addition,
four commissioned officers were accused of failing to investigate or covering
up the incident, but charges remain against only two: Grayson and Lt. Col.
Jeffrey Chessani. After the bombing,
investigators say, Wuterich and a squad member shot five men by a car at the
scene. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his squad into several houses, where
they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing unarmed civilians. Grayson was not present at
the scene of the killings but is accused of telling a sergeant to delete
photographs of the dead from his digital camera. Santmyer said the only
connection between Grayson and the Haditha case were pictures. "What the evidence will
not show and what the government will not be able to show is a motive for the
misconduct Grayson is alleged to have committed," he said. Grayson is charged with two
counts of making false official statements, two counts of trying to
fraudulently separate from service, and one count each of attempt to deceive
by making false statements and obstruction of justice by trying to impede an
investigation. Grayson, who says he did
nothing wrong, rejected a plea deal under which his charges would have been
dismissed in exchange for an admission that he covered up the killings, his
attorney has said. Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn.,
faces voluntary manslaughter and other charges. Chessani, of Rangely, Colo.,
is charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on
allegations he mishandled the aftermath of the shooting deaths. Chessani was
a battalion commander. Correction: Marines-Haditha story Camp Pendleton, Calif. - In
May 28 stories about a Marine officer on trial for allegedly obstructing
justice and making false statements related to the killings of 24 Iraqis in
Haditha, The Associated Press erroneously reported that eight Marines killed
the Iraqis. Four Marines were originally
charged with the November 2005 killings and four faced counts related to the
investigation of the deaths. Charges against five have since been dropped. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hNUaTPsL6OBHarjCDUGxJ0EYsm9AD90VF3788 Attorney: Accused Marine ‘fall
guy’ in Haditha case Opening statements, testimony kick off court-martial for Lt. Andrew
Grayson By Teri Figueroa North County Times May 29, 2008 Camp Pendleton - Calling his
client "a convenient fall guy for the government," a defense
attorney for Lt. Andrew Grayson told a military jury Thursday that the
officer had no motive to cover up evidence of the slayings of 24 Iraqi
civilians in the town of Haditha, Iraq. Grayson is accused of
ordering a junior Marine to delete more than three dozen photographs
depicting the dead, women and very young children among them. The alleged order from the
then-military intelligence officer came three months after the Nov. 19, 2005,
deaths, during the early stages of media-sparked military investigations into
the killings. The 27-year-old Ohio native
has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including obstruction of justice,
lying to investigators and an accusation that he tried to get out of the
military after charges were levied in order to avoid a court-martial. Maj. William A. Santmyer
told the panel that Grayson was not present on the day of the killings, nor
was he present when Haditha city leaders asked military officers to
investigate the slayings. "Grayson is nothing
more than a fall guy for a series of investigations conducted under intense
media pressure," Santmyer told the seven jury members. The killings led to
international condemnation - and, eventually, to criminal charges against
four enlisted Marines accused as triggermen, as well as four officers accused
with a role in the aftermath. It is the largest war crimes
case involving civilian deaths since the start of the Iraq war. Charges against five of the
eight accused Marines, including three of the alleged gunmen, have since been
dropped. The civilian killings
allegedly took place after a 2005 roadside bombing killed one Marine and
injured two others. In the moments and hours that followed the bombing, the
Marines allegedly killed 24 civilians as they sought the bombers and the
people they said shot at them immediately after the explosion. One of the government's key
witnesses took the stand Thursday morning, the first person to testify in the
case. Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner
told the jury he took pictures of the slain Iraqis on the day of the
shootings to determine if any were known or suspected insurgents. He later
showed the photos to Grayson, who was the leader of his intelligence team. He said that months later,
when the heat was on from investigations into the possibility that the
killings violated war crimes laws, Grayson ordered him to delete the photos
from his computer. "I knew I'd done
something wrong with (deleting) those photographs," Laughner said. Laughner is expected to
spend at least an hour under cross examination by Grayson's attorneys
Thursday afternoon. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/05/29/military/z4d65d55ff4bfcf9d88257458006c823a.txt Marine ‘lied’ over Haditha
deaths By BBC News May 29, 2008 A US marine lied to cover up
a squad's killings of 24 civilians in Iraq's city of Haditha in 2005, a US
prosecutor has said at the officer's court martial. The prosecutor's comments
came during opening statements in the trial of Lt Andrew Grayson in
California. Lt Grayson is charged with
obstructing justice and making false statements in connection with the case.
He rejects the allegations. He is the first of three
defendants to go on trial. Four marines were initially
charged with killing of the 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and
children, in Haditha. Another four were charged with failing to investigate
the deaths. But five of the marines have
now had charges dismissed. ‘Photos deleted’ Lt Grayson lied to
investigators to help cover up the killings in Haditha, prosecutor Lt Col
Paul Atterbury told a seven-member jury at the court martial in Camp
Pendleton. The prosecutor also said
there were key undisputed facts in the case: a roadside bomb on 19 November
2005 killed a marine and injured two others, and two hours later the squad's
actions resulted in the deaths of the 24 Iraqis. The US military at first
reported that the Iraqis had been killed by that explosion, or in a subsequent
gunfight with insurgents. But Iraqi witnesses said the
US troops shot dead five unarmed men when they approached the scene of the
bombing in a car. The troops were then accused
of killing 19 other civilians in three houses nearby over the next few hours. Lt Grayson is alleged to
have instructed a sergeant to delete digital photographs of the incident from
his camera. He is charged with six
counts of making false statements and obstructing justice. Lt Grayson would also have
had his charges dropped if he had accepted a plea deal and admitted that he
covered up the killings, his lawyer said. If found guilty, he could
face up to 30 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and dismissal from the
Marine Corps. Video footage Despite the accusations, there
was no full US investigation into what happened until January 2006, when
video footage emerged of the aftermath, filmed by a local human rights
activist. A subsequent investigation by Time magazine suggested that most of
the dead were shot by marines after the bombing - and in March 2006 a
criminal investigation was launched. The following month, three
officers in charge of troops in Haditha were stripped of their command and
reassigned. Those accused of involvement
in the incident have maintained they were reacting to insurgent fire. One of the men, Staff Sgt
Frank Wuterich, faces a court martial on nine counts of voluntary
manslaughter later this year. The third marine to face a
court martial will be battalion commander Lt Col Jeffrey Chessani, who has
been charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order. External link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7426429.stm |