For the latest news and analysis in this case, let jazusamo or me know if you want on the Haditha Marine Ping List.
Posted on 01/17/2007 4:29:59 AM PST by RedRover
NORTH COUNTY -- The going is tough for two organizations as they try to raise money for the legal defense of a group of Camp Pendleton Marines charged with murder and other crimes in Haditha, Iraq, spokesmen for both groups said last week.
Although nearly three weeks have passed since the charges were filed, the defense fund has received just $1,200 in donations. Meanwhile, another defense fund group that is also trying to raise legal funds for the Haditha Marines has not received a dime in donations for the men, a spokesman for that group said. While any service member who is accused of a crime is entitled to a court-appointed defense attorney who is also a member of the military, in major cases it is common for defendants' families to also hire civilian attorneys.
The president of Greensboro, N.C.-based the Warrior Fund said Friday that should a case go to court-martial, the costs of defending a member of the military with the assistance of a private attorney could run upward of $250,000.
"For a competitive attorney, that is just a start," said retired Marine Corps Maj. Bill Donahue, president of United American Patriots, which has a nonprofit defense fund called the Warriors Fund.
Though attorneys often take such cases at drastically reduced rates, costs can quickly mount to pay expenses for investigators, paralegals, forensic experts and trips overseas to interview witnesses, Donahue said.
Jack Zimmerman, a defense attorney who represents Haditha defendant Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, said Monday that the government will sometimes pay some of the costs associated with defending an accused troop. Other attorneys, however, say that obtaining that help from the government is often difficult.
In a Friday interview, the father of one of the Haditha defendants, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, talked about how important it is to raise money to defend his son.
Dad says money key
"The money relates directly to what you can afford to do in defending our son," said Darryl Sharratt. "The more money you have, the more forensic experts you can bring in to rebut the government's evidence."
He said that his family is not rich and he knows the future is going to be tough, but they will do whatever it takes.
"We are willing to sell our home and live in a trailer," he said. "If I have to make $10 payments to (the attorney) for the rest of my life, I will do it."
Both organizations are trying to raise money for two different cases. One case is known as the Haditha case and the other as the Hamdania case.
Hamdania: In late May, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, were arrested, put in the brig and later were charged with the kidnapping and murder of a retired Iraqi police officer in the Iraqi village of Hamdania.
Three of the Marines and the corpsman in that case reached plea deals with prosecutors and are now serving jail terms ranging from 12 to 21 months. Four other Marines pleaded not guilty and are awaiting courts-martial. Haditha: On Nov. 19, 2005, a roadside bomb exploded as a convoy of 13 Camp Pendleton-based Marines was driving on a street in Haditha. The bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas and injured two other Marines. The Marines, of the 3rd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment, then allegedly shot five unarmed, military-age Iraqi men.
Some of the defendants have said the Iraqis drove up, then tried to run away when told to halt. Next, according to charges, the troops raided several nearby homes in pursuit of what they say they believed were their attackers. By the time the smoke had cleared, 19 more men, women and children were dead.
In late December, the Marine Corps charged four enlisted men with murder in the Haditha case. Also charged were four officers, accused of dereliction of duty and related offenses for allegedly failing to properly investigate and report on what happened.
Public relations issue?
Former Superior Court Judge Victor Ramirez, a board member with the Marine Legal Defense Fund in Carlsbad, said he believes one of the things making it difficult to raise money for the Haditha case is that the Marine Corps has been deft with its public relations.
That was not the case in the Hamdania incident, he said, where even before charges were filed, the men were put in the brig and put in shackles when they left their cells.
"The military clearly learned its lesson from the public outcry," in the Hamdania case, Ramirez said.
In a prepared statement Friday, a Camp Pendleton spokesman said that Haditha and Hamdania are two separate incidents and two separate investigations.
"Each case stands on its own facts," Lt. Col Sean Gibson said.
He said the decision to place a Marine in pretrial confinement is based on several factors specific to each Marine and the circumstances in his or her case. Those factors include: the existence of probable cause that an offense has been committed; the need to ensure that the Marine will show up for trial; the potential that the Marine may commit further misconduct; and the individual service record of each Marine, Gibson said.
Donations dried up
After the men were put in the brig in the Hamdania case, donations began pouring into the Carlsbad fund to help pay for the Marines' defense. And over the following weeks and months, the fund received about $60,000 in donations.
The Warrior Fund's Donahue painted a similarly bleak picture of fundraising of late. He said his group is attempting to raise money for several cases involving U.S. service members, including the defendants in the Haditha and Hamdania cases.
Ramirez and Donahue said that as soon as guilty pleas were entered for four of the eight men in the Hamdania case, donations dried up almost overnight.
Although the Warriors Fund Web site has extensive information on Hamdania and Haditha and asks for contributions to help pay for legal defense costs in both those cases and others, Donahue said thus far he has received no donations that are specifically earmarked for the Marines accused in the Haditha incident.
Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426, or wbennett@nctimes.com.
Can you please post where we can send contributions for both cases? We owe it to our men and women who serve us so well.
For the latest news and analysis in this case, let jazusamo or me know if you want on the Haditha Marine Ping List.
For donations to the Warrior Fund, click at the link. You can specify a donation to the Haditha Marines.
For the address of the Iraq Marine Legal Defense Fund, Inc., go to Defend Our Marines. If you send a check, write "Haditha Marines" on the memo line, if that is your preference.
In addition to these funds, an individual fund has been established for Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum of the Haditha Marines. Oklahoma Freepers may want to support one of their own. You will find a pdf file with a contribution form at the Defend Our Marines link.
bump
Ok, what can I do to help?
There were articles in local papers on each of the eight Haditha Marines when charges were announced. Please contact any of these papers about this article in the NC Times and ask that they consider running an article as well.
Contact anyone else in the media you know. If you are having a clandestine relationship with Shepard Smith, for instance, lean on him. Without publcity, these funds will never reach a fraction of their potential.
Cover your ears Shephard, I don't know what this person is talking about!
Ok then...TO the link!
BTTT!
Bill Donahue is president of United American Patriots. Its defense fund, the Warrior Fund, is headed by Tim Harrington.
Both Donohue and Harrington served as Marines and still proudly serve them today. It would have been more accurate if the article called Harrington the president of the Warrior (not "Warriors") Fund. But that's a fairly small quibble.
This is all my understanding. If I've misstepped, I hope someone will correct me.
Red,
Can you cash in your "heart of gold"? What a good and patriotic thing you are doing.
I can't stand by and watch our Marines or their families lose all they own to defend themselves. Thanks for the ping and update.
Thank again for clearing up the who's who.
My pleasure, lil.
There was a call when this first happened for funds, I think through Michael Savage, to which I responded, but darned if I can remember where I sent it. Anyone find out, I will be glad to donate again.
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