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June 4th,
2008 - Jury Gets Case of Marine Accused of Iraq Cover-Up 1st news article by
the Associated Press |
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Jury Gets Case
of Marine Accused of Iraq Cover-Up By Chelsea J. Carter Associated Press June 4, 2008 Camp Pendleton - A military
judge told a jury Wednesday to focus on the alleged actions of a Marine
intelligence officer accused of trying to help cover up the killings of 24
Iraqis rather than revisit the larger case. The judge instructed the
jury to only consider the charges before them in the court-martial of 1st Lt.
Andrew Grayson, who is the first of three Marines scheduled to be tried in
the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi deaths to come out of the war. The judge, Maj. Brian E.
Kasprzyk, handed the case to jurors after closing arguments in which a
prosecutor and defense attorney offered starkly contrasting views of Grayson. The prosecutor, Lt. Col.
Paul H. Atterbury, painted Grayson as a liar who wanted to avoid
accountability and ordered a sergeant to delete photographs of the bodies.
Grayson's civilian defense attorney, Joseph Casas, said he was victim of a
botched investigation under heavy media scrutiny. Grayson, who says he did
nothing wrong, was not at the scene of the killings of men, women and children
on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha. He is accused of a telling a sergeant to delete
photographs of the dead from his digital camera and laptop computer. Atterbury told jurors
evidence showed Grayson lied five times to investigators and hindered their
efforts to look into the killings. "Gentlemen, why would
an otherwise promising officer make a statement like that? The government's
argument is that it was to avoid accountability," Atterbury said. But Casas told jurors the
prosecution of Grayson was the result of a botched investigation. The case, he said, was
falling apart, pointing to a move a day earlier by a judge who dismissed an
obstruction-of-justice charge against Grayson. "One of the greatest
charges we started out with is no longer there," Casas said. "It's
like the government ran a 90-yard punt return and got called back to line
10." The judge did not explain
why he dropped the charge. He told jurors shortly before closing arguments
began that they should not infer anything from his decision. Grayson, of Springboro,
Ohio, still faces two counts of making false official statements, two counts
of trying to fraudulently separate from the service, and one count of attempt
to deceive by making false statements. If convicted on all counts, he faces up
to 20 years in prison. The killings occurred after
a roadside bomb killed a Marine and wounded two others. Investigators allege that
after the bombing, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and a squad member shot five men
by a car at the scene. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his men into several
houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing more
Iraqis, including women and children, in the process. Four enlisted Marines
initially were charged with murder and four officers were charged with
failing to investigate the deaths. Charges were dropped against five of the
Marines but remain against Grayson, Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani,
who was the battalion commander. Still to face court-martial
are Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., whose charges include voluntary
manslaughter, and Chessani, of Rangely, Colo., who has been charged with
dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations he
mishandled the aftermath of the killings. Grayson and Wuterich pleaded
not guilty. Chessani has said he didn't order a formal investigation because
he believed the deaths resulted from lawful combat. He has not entered a plea
because in the military system that is not usually done until motions
hearings are completed and a court-martial is about to start. External link: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Marines_Haditha_344327C.shtml Jury Hears Different
Views of Haditha Probe By Chelsea J. Carter Associated Press June 4, 2008 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
prosecutor said Wednesday a Marine intelligence officer helped cover up the
killings of 24 Iraqis to avoid accountability, but his defense attorney said
he was the victim of a botched investigation. The contrasts came during
closing arguments in the court-martial of 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, whose trial
is the first over the killings 2 1/2 years ago. The jury of seven officers
was to begin deliberations as early as Wednesday afternoon. Grayson says he did nothing
wrong. He was not at the scene of the killings on Nov. 19, 2005, but is
accused of a telling a sergeant to delete the photographs from his digital
camera and laptop computer. The prosecutor, Lt. Col.
Paul H. Atterbury, told jurors that the evidence showed Grayson lied five
times to investigators and hindered the probe. "Gentlemen, why would
an otherwise promising officer make a statement like that? The government's
argument is that it was to avoid accountability," Atterbury said. Grayson's civilian defense
attorney, Joseph Casas, told jurors the case was falling apart, noting the
judge on Tuesday dismissed a count of obstruction of justice. "One of the greatest
charges we started out with is no longer there," Casas said. The judge, Maj. Brian
Kasprzyk, did not explain why he dropped the charge. He told the jury
Wednesday that they should not infer anything from his decision. Grayson still faces two
counts of making false official statements, two counts of trying to
fraudulently separate from service, and one count of attempt to deceive by
making false statements. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 20 years
in prison. The killings occurred after
a roadside bomb killed a Marine and wounded two others. After the bombing, Staff
Sgt. Frank Wuterich and a squad member allegedly shot five men near a car at
the scene, investigators said. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his men into
several houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing
the Iraqis, including women and children. Four enlisted Marines
initially were charged with murder and four officers were charged with
failing to investigate the deaths. Charges were dropped against five of the
Marines but remain against Grayson, Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. Still to face court-martial
are Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., whose charges include voluntary
manslaughter, and Chessani of Rangely, Colo., who has been charged with
dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations he
mishandled the aftermath of the shooting deaths. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hNUaTPsL6OBHarjCDUGxJ0EYsm9AD913F1HO0 |