HADITHA TRIALS ALMOST AT AN END (Nat helms talks with Neal Puckett)

Defend Our Marines ^ | August 14, 2010 | Nathaniel R. Helms

[jazusamo]

One month from now the longest, most expensive criminal investigation in Marine Corps history will finally come to an end one way or another at the general court martial of SSgt Frank Wuterich, the last Marine accused of unlawful killings at Haditha, Iraq on November 19, 2005.

“When the public sees the truth at this court-martial, it will be one of the biggest news stories of the year,” said Neal Puckett, the lead defense attorney in the upcoming court martial. “The truth of the story is yet to be revealed.”

Almost five years ago, a hidden insurgent remotely triggered a huge bomb that blew apart a lightly armored Marine Corps “high back” Humvee. One Marine and 24 Iraqis died in the gruesome exchange that followed. Eleven Marines were wounded. The virulent press dubbed the incident the “Haditha Massacre.”

Nine of the decedents were quickly deemed insurgents for their complicity in staging the attack from a residential neighborhood. The rest of the victims unfortunately got in the way. The Marines Corps declared victory the next day in a bland communiqué. Regrettably it was factually wrong, the first of many factual and procedural mistakes that would follow. The Marine Corps has been on trial ever since. On September 13 it will have one more shot at vindication.

During an interview on the CBS television news show “60 Minutes” Wuterich revealed what happened that day:

…I remember there may have been women in there, may have been children in there. My responsibility as a squad leader is to make sure that none of the rest of my guys died ... and at that point, we were still on the assault, so no, I don't believe [I should have stopped the attack].

We went through that house much the same, prepping the room with grenades, going in there, and eliminating the threat and engaging the targets…There probably wasn't [a threat], now that I look back on it. But there, in that time, yes, I believed there was a threat.

At his preliminary hearing two years ago Wuterich said he regretted the loss of civilian life in Haditha, but said he believed he was operating within military combat rules when he ordered his men to attack.

What happened didn't mean there was criminal intent

 

Puckett has represented the 30-year old infantryman he calls “the last Marine standing” since 2006. Funded by almost a quarter of a million dollars from generous donors, he has never given an inch. Convicting Wuterich would give the Marine Corps prosecutors who relentlessly pursued his client a scrap of absolution. Puckett doesn’t intend to provide the Marine Corps vindication that easily, he said.

“They were acting in accordance with their training. If errors in judgment were made, you have to give the benefit of the doubt to the Marines. What happened [at Haditha] doesn’t mean there was criminal intent,” Puckett explained.

He says the investigation was flawed, the prosecution ignored exculpatory evidence uncovered by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and his client was the victim of undue command influence, the same judicial stain that set Wuterich’s commanding officer free last month.

Wuterich is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice for leading the squad that killed the Iraqis. He was the squad leader in Kilo Company, 3 Battalion, 1^st Marines who lead three of his men on a house clearing attack after his four vehicle resupply convoy was ambushed.  He is currently assigned to administrative work at 1st Marine Division headquarters at Camp Pendleton. The young Marine who put his future on hold to defend his country has already lost more than most; his wife, his family, and his home. The Marine Corps still wants his life. If convicted Wuterich could spend most of it in prison.

Continued at Defend Our Marines

[jazusamo]

Nat Helms has been accepted among the press pool to attend the trial and cover it for Defend Our Marines.

His articles will be posted at Free Republic courtesy of Defend Our Marines.

[jazusamo]

Excellent article by Nat Helms
.

HADITHA MARINE PING!

[em2vn]

This mess is G.W.Bush’s bigget fu(* up among many. He should have stopped this thing dead in its tracks but he didn’t have the guts to do it.

[Lancey Howard]

WOW!!

Bump!

Nine of the decedents were quickly deemed insurgents for their complicity in staging the attack from a residential neighborhood.

24 minus 9 equals 15.
...But simple math has never stopped Mark Walker of the North County Times from reporting that "24 civilians were killed".

[jazusamo]

Walker’s name crossed my mind when reading that also, he never has gotten it right.

[Girlene]

Thanks for the ping, jaz. From Nat's article:

......"On March 23, 2010 Wuterich won a key ruling that still could lead to the dropping of the case. Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, a military judge who heard the motion to dismiss the charges against Wuterich ruled his lawyers had successfully shown that there was the evidence of the same undue command influence that set his commanding officer free. Even so Jones ruled against a motion to dismiss the case during a hearing at Camp Pendleton and ordered Wuterich to stand trial.".......

I didn't realize the judge had agreed there was evidence of UCI. I think the judge ruled there was a "possibility" of UCI, which forced the prosecution to prove there was not. From LA Times, Ruling could lead Marine Corps to drop Haditha case After hearing from the prosecution, I don't think the judge agreed with the UCI finding. From Signon San Diego, Path for Haditha trial is cleared; court-martial set

On the issue of command influence, Jones said it may have been poor judgment to allow a colonel who had investigated the Haditha suspects to attend meetings where generals and other top officers discussed the case. But the judge decided that prosecutors successfully proved that Gen. James Mattis and his successor in charge of Marines in the Middle East had not been prejudiced by unlawful advice from that colonel.

So, maybe this initial ruling [allowing them to explore whether there was any UCI] will factor in an appeal? It's a bit confusing.

[jazusamo]

So, maybe this initial ruling [allowing them to explore whether there was any UCI] will factor in an appeal?

That's the way I understand it also, Girl, and you're absolutely correct in saying it's confusing.

[Girlene]

Wuterich's defense attorney, Neil Puckett, claims the prosecution can't prove their charges because they don't have the bullets, guns, forensics to tie SSgt Wuterich to any deaths. IOW, it was never collected at the time, and no autopsies were done.

I finally found the charges for Wuterich here, No Murder Charges Filed in Haditha Case

For the charges related to the taxi (white car) occupants quite a few of these charges are very non-specific regarding whether SSgt Wuterich even killed them. For the taxi occupants, his charges are:

Dereliction- No PID when shooting at 1 or more unknown car occupants
Voluntary Manslaughter - Killing 1 or more unknown guys at white car
Reckless Endangerement - shooting at men outside white car
Obstruction of Justice - telling Dela Cruz to lie about white car shootings

It's pretty pathetic when you're facing all these charges for the possibility that you might have shot at some guys, might have killed one or more of them, but they are unknown. Sheesh.

[bigheadfred]

Despite the fact this much of this case lies in the realm of fantasy-it’s a fairy tale, the prosecution will hammer 2 key things.

1. There were dead “civilian” bodies

2. Wuterich was in charge

IMO, a lack of forensics, botched investigations, missing evidence, and deliberately hidden evidence will be downplayed.

Regarding the article that Iraqi’s are going back to al qeada cause we aren’t paying them enough.

Hopefully this time we’ll be smart enough to step aside and just supply weapons to both sides. Hopefully the war between the Shi’ites and Sunnis will make the Rwandan Genocide look like a walk in the park.

[SunkenCiv]

Puckett has represented the 30-year old infantryman he calls "the last Marine standing" since 2006. Funded by almost a quarter of a million dollars from generous donors, he has never given an inch. Convicting Wuterich would give the Marine Corps prosecutors who relentlessly pursued his client a scrap of absolution. Puckett doesn't intend to provide the Marine Corps vindication that easily, he said.

[Girlene]

IMO, a lack of forensics, botched investigations, missing evidence, and deliberately hidden evidence will be downplayed.

I agree. They want some/any charges to stick. This is their last chance for the Haditha Marines. Hopefully, the jury will see through this.

[jazusamo]

Yep, we can bet the prosecution will try to downplay it but the defense team is good and I’m betting they’ll prevail.

[bigheadfred]

the defense team is good

My hope is they can get a bunch of COMBAT Officers on the panel. If he gets a bunch of career-minded desk-jockeys they might look at the expense of this operation, and the huge amount of failure in previous prosecutions and opt for some kind of conviction. Be interesting to see what kind of lesser included's are given to the jury.

I mean if they can prove Wuterich's bootlace was untied and tell the jury they can find him guilty of being out of uniform, my fear is they'll JUMP at it.

[jazusamo]

I’ll be surprised if the majority of Officers and NCOs on the panel are not combat Marines. The defense will be after that and there’s no shortage of combat Marines due to the last eight years.

You are correct though, the prosecution will be trying their darndest to nail him on anything they can.

[smoothsailing]

Good post, Jaz, thanks for the ping!

The latest addition to the team is Major Meredith Marshall, the senior defense attorney at Miramar Naval Air Station. She was appointed by the Marine Corps as military counsel for Wuterich. She is the only newcomer in the mix and the only female lawyer to participate in the case.

I'm interested in this Major Marshall and what role she will play. So far I've found out that she's licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and has family ties in my area.

Here's a screenshot from a Marshall family website...

[bigheadfred]

In Evan’s case they had a JAG to help as a sort of liaison between the civilian attorneys and the military. Helped with the filing of motions, etc. I think it is good to have someone on the inside on your team.

[jazusamo]

Thanks for posting the info on Major Marshall.

It’s interesting that she has ties to folks living in your area and that the Marshall family has a strong military background.

I’m also anxious to see the roll she’ll play.

[smoothsailing]

Thanks Fred, that’s good to know!

[Marine_Uncle]

Thanks for the headups Jaz.

[Girlene]

My hope is they can get a bunch of COMBAT Officers on the panel.

I believe SSgt Wuterich was to be granted a jury of Marines who had served in Iraq. It's been a LONG time since the incident occurred and the present, but hopefully, he will get enough Marines on a jury panel that had some experience from the time in which this incident occurred.