Posted on 05/26/2005 2:00:25 PM PDT by the anti-liberal
Just in from AP:
A former Wall Street trader who rejoined the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks will not be tried on murder charges for killing two suspected Iraqi insurgents, a Marine general decided Thursday.
Reuters adds:
"After careful consideration of the Article 32 Investigative Report and of the autopsies, Maj. Gen. Huck has decided to dismiss all charges," the statement said."While the Article 32 Investigation has been lengthy, the best interests of 2nd Lt. Pantano and the government have been served by this process." Pantano was charged with the crime Feb. 1. The charges would have carried the death penalty.
"Down at the unit level, there was never a question about Ilario's conduct and whether or not he did the right thing," Charles Gittins, Pantano's civilian lawyer, said. "It was up in the higher echelons. The people removed from combat situations needed to put more trust in their officers rather than assuming they're guilty.""That's exciting, isn't it," said Pantano's mother, Merry Pantano of New York, who said she hadn't yet spoken to her son about the decision. "Needless to say, we are quite ecstatic."
So, what does Lt. Pantano plan to do? Right now, he's training troops at Camp Lejeune and hopes to return to combat to serve his country.
God bless him.
No update yet, but Lt. Pantano's family's website, Defend the Defenders, is here.
Update:
Euphoric Reality, which has provided excellent milblogger reporting on the case, will be posting an exclusive interview with Lt. Pantano's lawyer, Charles Gittins, today. and will also have a blogger exclusive interview with Lt. Pantano himself early next week. They're asking you to submit questions for the Lt. Pantano interview (send them to kit.jarrell-at-gmail.com).
Go Marines- Semper Fi
Yes!!!
If this is true, I sure as hope they stick some charges against this guy.
Yes!!!!
2. For posterity, please set the source URL to be that of the archive article -- in this case, http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002567.htm -- rather than the root (http://michellemalkin.com).
Good.
Noted and thanks.
I heard on Fox today that the seargent who accused Pantano was so outrageous and off base in court that the Judge aksed that the seargant BE READ HIS RIGHTS because he was being so out of line he could be charged himself right in court. That almost neve happens when you have some one read their rights during the trial!
From what I understand this sergeant had a vendetta against this LT.
Remember "A Few Good Men"? Tom Cruise' character asked the Judge for an article 32 hearing when Col Jessup was on the stand, stating "The witness has rights".
This is a good example of when the military does right by its men & women. Karpinski is an example of the opposite--that one they should have trashed to honor the decent ones!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.