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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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June 15th,
2008 - Key Ruling Expected in War Crime Case |
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Key Ruling Expected in War Crime
Case Judge narrows hearing to ruling on undue command influence issue By Mark Walker North County Times June 15, 2008 Camp Pendleton - A military
judge has scrapped plans to hear motions in a key 2005 Iraq war crime case,
telling attorneys he is limiting discussion Tuesday to a ruling on whether a
Marine general was unlawfully influenced by a legal adviser. The case involves charges
against a commander tied to the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians killed in the
city of Haditha following a roadside bombing. The decision by the judge,
Marine Col. Steven Folsom, suggests the case against Lt. Col. Jeffrey
Chessani may be over or set for substantial change when Tuesday's court
session at Camp Pendleton concludes. "We were originally
scheduled for motions to be heard Monday through Wednesday, but on Thursday
night, the judge said he would only take up the unlawful command motion and
that it would be the only matter discussed," one of Chessani's
attorneys, Brian Rooney, said Friday. The message from Folsom
buoyed the hopes of Chessani's supporters, who say the charges against him
are unwarranted. Chessani faces two
dereliction of duty accusations for failing to order a full-scale
investigation into the civilian deaths at the hands of a squad of Camp Pendleton
Marines under his command. Chessani, his attorneys and
supporters have argued, reported what he knew to his superiors, none of whom
suggested an inquiry was necessary. Rooney declined to publicly
speculate why Folsom is limiting Tuesday's session to the unlawful command
issue and not taking up other previously scheduled issues. "Either way, we are
prepared to go to trial on July 21," he said. The Marine Corps and its
prosecutors will not talk about ongoing cases. The issue Folsom is to rule
on is whether then-Lt. Gen. James Mattis was unlawfully influenced by a legal
adviser when he authorized charging Chessani in December 2006. Possibile rulings include
dismissing the case or ordering a new investigating officer be appointed to
review it in its entirety. If charges are dismissed, Chessani would be the
seventh of eight original Haditha defendants to be exonerated. Chessani's attorneys argue
that Col. John Ewers took part in an investigation into the killings in northwest
of Baghdad, later attended meetings about the case with Mattis and then
became the general's legal adviser. That degree of participation and
association, they contend, constitutes unlawful command influence. Mattis, who was the
convening authority over the Haditha case in 2005 when he was commander of
Marine Corps forces in the Middle East and head of Camp Pendleton's I Marine
Expeditionary Force, has since been promoted to general and now works for
Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. In a hearing at Camp
Pendleton earlier this month, Mattis denied that Ewer influenced his approval
of the charges against Chessani and seven other Marines in the Haditha
incident. "I make my own
decisions," Mattis testified during a June 2 hearing. Rooney said Folsom should
dismiss the case. "We don't believe that
the unlawful command influence that we have proven in court can be remedied
by any lesser means," he said during a telephone interview. Short of that, Rooney said,
Folsom direct the Marine Corps to appoint a new investigating officer. That
officer would then make a recommendation to Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, who
replaced Mattis as the convening authority, as to whether the case should go
forward. Gary Solis, a military law
expert, said he was skeptical of the prospect of an outright dismissal. "I think it is entirely
foreseeable that the motion to dismiss on unlawful command influence will be
denied and the case will continue," said Solis, a former Marine Corps
judge and prosecutor who teaches military law at Georgetown University.
"It is very odd to suggest a colonel could have influenced a three-star
such as Gen. Mattis. I would be very surprised if the motion were
granted." Chessani commanded Camp
Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at Haditha when the killings
occurred following a roadside bombing on Nov. 19, 2005. Nineteen civilians
were shot by members of a squad as it searched houses for those responsible
for the bombing and subsequent small arms fire. Five other men who emerged
from a car that drove up immediately after the bombing also were shot. Eight Marines, four officers
and four enlisted men eventually were charged with wrongdoing; all denied the
charges. The enlisted men originally were charged with murder while Chessani
and three other officers faced charges related to failing to order a
full-scale probe into the civilian deaths. Six of the eight accused
have been exonerated following hearings or by having the charges withdrawn by
prosecutors, leaving Chessani and the squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank
Wuterich, as the remaining defendants. Chessani is scheduled to go
on trial at Camp Pendleton next month. A trial for Wuterich is on hold
pending an appellate court decision on whether the government should have
access to outtakes of a "60 Minutes" interview with him that aired
in March 2007. The prosecution and defense
had been slated to argue next week over whether photographs of the slain
Iraqis should be allowed into evidence. The prosecution argues the photos are
necessary to underscore the brutal nature of the deaths and that several
women and children were among those killed. The defense argues there is
no need for the pictures, which were taken by an intelligence team member to
help determine if any of the slain were on military lists of known or
suspected insurgents. It was later determined none were. Five cases alleging unlawful
killings in Iraq have been brought against Camp Pendleton Marines since the
U.S. invasion in March 2003. Seven Marines and a Navy
corpsman were charged in 2006 with the killing of a retired Iraqi policeman.
All were convicted or pleaded guilty to offenses related to that incident. A continuing case involves
the killing of four suspected insurgents that a squad detained during
fighting in Fallujah in 2004. Two sergeants are being prosecuted on murder
charges at Camp Pendleton in that incident while their squad leader, former
Marine Sgt. Jose L. Nazario, is being prosecuted as a civilian in U.S.
District Court in Riverside because he is no longer in the military. Last year, a Marine lance
corporal was convicted of killing an Iraqi army soldier after the two got
into a fight while standing guard duty at Camp Fallujah on Dec. 31, 2006.
Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes was found guilty of negligent homicide, sentenced to
time served and given a bad conduct discharge. Earler this month, the
service confirmed that sergeant has been accused of two counts of
unpremeditated murder and assault in the killing of two civilians in Iraq
last year. A hearing to determine if that case will go foward has yet to be
scheduled. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06/15/military/z0ccd509ce4decabd882574650073705f.txt |