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June 3rd,
2008 - Judge Dismisses Obstruction Charge in Haditha Case News article by the Associated
Press |
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Judge Dismisses
Obstruction Charge in Haditha Case By Associated Press June 3, 2008 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
military judge has dismissed one of the charges against a Marine lieutenant
accused of helping cover up a squad's killings of 24 Iraqis, including women
and children. The judge dismissed an
obstruction of justice charge Tuesday against 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson. Grayson
is being court-martialed at Camp Pendleton on the remaining charges of making
false official statements, trying to fraudulently separate from service and
attempting to deceive by making false statements. Grayson was not present for
the Nov. 19, 2005, killings in Haditha, Iraq, that followed a roadside
bombing that killed one Marine and wounded two others. Prosecutors allege
that he ordered a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital
camera and laptop computer. Grayson says he did nothing
wrong. © 2008 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5816429.html Judge drops
obstruction charge in Haditha case mid-trial 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson still faces charges of lying, more By Teri Figueroa North County Times June 3, 3008 Camp Pendleton - A military
judge on Tuesday dismissed a charge that an officer obstructed justice when
he told a sergeant to delete photos of two dozen civilians killed by a squad
of Camp Pendleton Marines following a roadside bomb attack in Haditha, Iraq. As 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson
looked on, Maj. Brian Kasprzyk told a military jury inside a base courtroom
Tuesday morning that it was no longer to consider the obstruction charge. While Kasprzyk did not tell
the jury why the charge was gone, it appears a technicality led to the
dropping one of the four charges facing Grayson, who is fending off
accusations related to the aftermath of the killings that occurred Nov. 19,
2005. Grayson's civilian defense
attorney, Joseph Casas, said outside of the courtroom that Kasprzyk dropped
the charge because prosecutors failed to allege that Grayson knew the Haditha
case was the subject of a criminal investigation when he allegedly tried to
obstruct justice. Prosecutors accused Grayson
of telling a junior officer to delete photos of the aftermath of the killings
- and that the order came after Grayson learned the Haditha killings were
under investigation. Casas said the investigation
Grayson is accused of trying to thwart was not a criminal probe at that time,
but rather an administrative look at whether there had been a failure in
leadership by officers. An intelligence officer at
the time of the killings, Grayson still faces charges that he lied to
investigators and fraudulently tried to get out of the Marine Corps after the
initial charges were filed. The 27-year-old Ohio native has pleaded not
guilty. In testimony last week,
Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner told the jury that Grayson directed him three
months after the killings to delete images of the dead that he photographed a
few hours after the incident. The dead included two women and several young
children. Laughner, who took the
photos as part of his duties, said Grayson's order to destroy the photos came
during the early stages of media-sparked military investigations of the
killings. Laughner said he
photographed the bodies to help determine if any of the slain were
insurgents. He showed them to Grayson on the day of the slayings, he
testified, adding he kept the digital photos in case anyone might need them
in the future. But Grayson's attorneys
argued - and the trial testimony bore out - that military policy forbids
keeping photos of slain Iraqi civilians if has been determined they have no
intelligence value. The civilians were killed as
the Marine squad sought the those responsible for the roadside bombing and
shooting at them immediately after the explosion. In the wake of the Haditha
killings, four enlisted Marines were charged with murder. Four officers were
charged with failing to fully investigate what happened. Charges against five of the
eight accused have since been dropped, leaving only one of the men involved
in the shootings and two officers still facing trial. All of the accused were
from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. Grayson is the first of the
Haditha defendant to have his case reach trial. Closing arguments to the
jury - made up of seven military officers, all of whom have combat deployments
under their belts - are tentatively set for Wednesday morning. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06/03/military/z6099ef4b1c79edc28825745d005e0b4a.txt |