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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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February 25th,
2009 - Army Drops Case Against GI in Iraqi Deaths News article from Stars and
Stripes |
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Army Drops Case Against GI
in Iraqi Deaths By John Vandiver Stars and Stripes February 25, 2009 The Army has dropped its
case against a Grafenwöhr, Germany-based soldier who was poised to stand
trial on a conspiracy charge in connection with the execution of four Iraqi
men in Baghdad last year. Sgt. Charles Quigley of the
172nd Infantry Brigade was accused of being at the scene of the crime, but
his attorney said Quigley should never have been charged with conspiring to
kill. "We have maintained
from the beginning that SGT Quigley is not guilty of conspiring with other
members of his unit to do anything unlawful to detainees," said Scot
Sikes, Quigley’s civilian attorney in a prepared statement. Though Quigley agreed to
wear a wire to help the Criminal Investigation Command gather evidence and
build a case against others involved in the killings, the military opted to
push forward with the conspiracy charge against him. Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, a
spokesman for the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, confirmed Tuesday
that the charge against Quigley was withdrawn and dismissed. The decision was
based on new evidence that emerged during the court-martial of a fellow
soldier, Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham. However, "Sergeant
Quigley will face nonjudicial punishment for his failure to report the
incident after it occurred," Bloom said. Sikes welcomed the decision
to dismiss, though they were prepared to make the case for Quigley’s
innocence. "We believe that recent
revelations from SSG Cunningham, SGT Quigley’s former squad leader in Iraq,
have helped the voice of reason to ring loudly - albeit on the eve of trial.
While the defense was prepared to sound that bell at trial, we are pleased
that the Army leadership has chosen ‘to do the right thing’ today and
withdraw the charge with prejudice," Sikes wrote. Quigley’s court-martial was
scheduled to start Tuesday. Cunningham also faced
charges of conspiracy for his role in the alleged execution of the Iraqis by
three U.S. noncommissioned officers in April 2007. But on Feb. 12, the JMTC
dismissed all charges against Cunningham, who blew the whistle on the
killings in January last year. During an Article 32 hearing
in August, witnesses testified that Cunningham was at the scene when the
Iraqis were shot and thrown into a canal. However, he remained in a vehicle
and declined to participate in the killings, they said. The Army has charged the
alleged shooters - 1st Sgt. John E. Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph P. Mayo and
Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr. - all formerly assigned to 1st Battalion, 18th
Infantry Regiment, with one specification each of premeditated murder,
conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice. Leahy was convicted of
premeditated murder last week and received a life sentence with the
possibility of parole. External link: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60951 Charge against R.I. soldier
is withdrawn By Gregory Smith The Providence Journal February 25, 2009 Providence - The Army has
dropped a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder that it
lodged against Sgt. Charles L. Quigley, 28, of Mount Pleasant, in the killing
of four Iraqi prisoners of war two years ago. But Brig. Gen. David R. Hogg
yesterday found Quigley guilty of a noncriminal charge of dereliction of duty
for not reporting what he knew about the killings, according to Quigley’s
civilian lawyer, S. Scot Sikes. Quigley now will be able to leave the Army as
scheduled in December with an honorable discharge, Sikes said. The sharp turnabout pleased
Quigley’s parents, Dennis and Pamela Quigley, of 74 Lennon St. “It was wrong from day one,”
Pamela Quigley, 59, a semiretired lawyer, declared last night. “And now it’s
been put right.” Dennis Quigley, also 59, a
letter carrier who is a retired National Guard staff sergeant and who served
on active duty with both the Navy and the Army, said his son spoke to him by
telephone from a military base in Germany, on Thursday, after getting the news
that the conspiracy case would be dismissed. He quoted his son as saying,
“I’m still numb. It hasn’t set in yet.” Four Iraqi prisoners who
soldiers suspected were enemy fighters were bound with plastic handcuffs,
blindfolded and executed with pistol shots to the head, and their bodies were
dumped in a canal in Baghdad, according to the Army. The U.S. Code of
Military Justice forbids harming enemy combatants who are in custody. The Army alleges that the
executions were intended as retribution for two combat deaths suffered by the
soldiers’ unit. Although he did not
participate in the killings, Quigley knew that something was planned, Sikes
acknowledged. And while he did not see the killings, he heard the deadly
shooting in the dark at the canal. The Army said he should have
disclosed what he knew to higher authority. It announced Monday that the
conspiracy count nevertheless would be withdrawn with prejudice, meaning that
it cannot be refiled. And now Quigley has gone
from being charged with a crime with a maximum punishment of life
imprisonment without parole to a relatively light penalty, Sikes said. “I’m really proud for him,”
Sikes said by phone from his law office in Columbus, Ga. “He’s a good kid
from a salt-of-the-earth family. We frankly thought this thing should have
never gotten this far.” Seven soldiers including
Quigley initially were charged in the crimes. Two specialists and two
sergeants were charged with murder conspiracy and three sergeants were
charged with doing the actual murders. The Army previously dropped
the murder conspiracy charge against one of the sergeants, Staff Sgt. Jess
Cunningham, 27, of Bakersfield, Calif., and Cunningham testified for the Army
in its prosecution of Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr., 28, of Lockport, Ill. Leahy
last week was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without
parole. Leahy confessed to having shot two of the prisoners. The two specialists last
year pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and conspiracy to commit
premeditated murder, respectively. Two more sergeants await
trial for murder, and General Hogg yesterday signed an order granting
immunity from prosecution to Quigley for his possible testimony against the
defendants. Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that serves the military, reported
that Quigley wore a wire to help gather evidence against others implicated in
the crime. All of the accused were with
the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry
Division in Iraq, which is now part of the 172nd Infantry Brigade and which
is based in Germany. Over the months that the
case has been pending, there had been several rounds of plea-bargaining that
involved Quigley and his two lawyers, one of them a military lawyer, Capt.
Samuel Gregory. At one point, Sikes disclosed, Gregory offered to have his
client plead guilty to dereliction of duty in a court-martial, a disposition
that would have exposed Quigley to a punishment of confinement to base and a
bad conduct or dishonorable discharge. But the Army said no. In what the military calls
an Article 15 proceeding, which is nonjudicial, Hogg yesterday imposed on
Quigley a three-part penalty: reduction in rank from sergeant E-5 to E-4, but
suspended for six months and revoked if he stays out of trouble; forfeiture of
one-half of one month’s pay for up to two months; and 45 days’ extra duty. Quigley’s parents had bought
nonrefundable airline tickets to Germany to attend his expected court-martial
next month - it would be Pamela Quigley’s first trip out of the U.S. - and
they intend to fly anyway. “So we’ll go over and visit
with him … and see the sights,” Mrs. Quigley said. Material from the Associated
Press was used in this story. External link: http://www.projo.com/ri/providence/content/Quigley_Charge_Dropped_02-25-09_ODDEKNL_v23.3bb2c4b.html |