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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 16th,
2008 - Haditha Case Attorneys Feel Case may be Dropped |
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Haditha Case Attorneys
Feel Case may be Dropped By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times June 16, 2008 Attorneys for Lt. Col.
Jeffrey Chessani, the final officer facing charges for the 2005 killing of 24
Iraqis in Haditha, believe they may be on the verge of having his case
dismissed. It's risky business, of
course, trying to guess what's in a judge's mind, in the civilian or military
system. But Chessani's lawyers think
the military judge, Col. Steven Folsom, may have signaled that he plans to
grant the defense motion to dismiss the case because of undue command
influence. Initially, Folsom had
scheduled two days in his Camp Pendleton courtroom this week to hear pretrial
motions in the case. But late last week, Folsom
shifted, telling attorneys he will only deal with the undue influence motion
in a session he predicted would take about an hour on Tuesday morning. Defense attorneys assert
that Gen. James Mattis, who brought the charges against Chessani and seven
other Marines, was unduly influenced by anti-war politicians, the media or a
Marine attorney who was involved in the initial investigation. Mattis and the attorney,
Col. John Ewers, both denied that Ewers tried to influence Mattis even though
he did attend meetings with Mattis in which other Marine attorneys discussed
the Haditha cases. Ewers testified that he was there to discuss cases other
than Haditha. Chessani is charged with
dereliction of duty and failure to follow a direct order. While he did report
the basic facts of the killings to his bosses within hours, prosecutors say
he should have been more aggressive in finding out why a squad of Marines in his
battalion killed 24 Iraqis after a roadside bomb had killed a Marine. Chessani was not at the
scene of the killings. He has said that from the reports he received, it
appeared the killings, while tragic, were the result of "troops in
contact" with the enemy and thus no further investigation was needed. If the case against Chessani
is dismissed, it would mean that seven of eight Marines initially charged by
Mattis have had the charges dropped. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the squad
leader, still faces court martial. External link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/06/iraq-1.html |