NCIS Agents To Be Questioned About Falsifying Evidence in Marine Assault Case

The officer presiding over the Article 32 hearing of Marine Lt. Nathan Phan, accused of assaulting an Iraqi last spring, has “called a halt” to the hearing until three investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service can be brought to court and questioned by both sides of the courtroom about the possibility that they fabricated evidence in an effort to convict Phan on the assault charges.

The accusations were made by defense attorney David Sheldon during testimony by witness LCPL Christopher Faulkner.

Faulker told the court that a statement the law enforcement agency provided prosecutors included untruthful wording that said he saw Phan placing an unloaded pistol into the mouth of one of the alleged victims. In fact, Faulkner testified, he never saw that occur and never told agents that it had.

Sheldon told the hearing officer that he had “reason to believe the government agents were lying,” and produced the actual affidavit that Faulkner signed, which stated that he merely saw Phan standing against the wall in a room with the detainee who was was being questioned.

Reasons:

1. They had already brought charges, spent thousands of man-hours "investigating," spent astronomical amounts of money, and came up short on evidence.

2. The media was already involved. To say "there isn't enough evidence to go forward" was no longer an option. It's about saving face.

3. The conviction rate in the JAG Corps is 97%. That means out of 100 people they take to trial, only 3 are acquitted of charges. How many civilian court systems do you know of like that?

4. The tactics shown by the NCIS are actually not as farfetched as you think. The agents in question were not only caught in this assault case, but also worked on the Pendleton 8 case, where there is also hot debate as to the validity of the "confessions" the Government claims to have.

5. In light of this report, the Gov't is applying much more pressure to SGT Hutchins, offering him a plea deal if he will testify against Phan and help undo the damage that the NCIS agents caused. They are willing to win at any cost.

6. The NCIS agents in question serve on the investigative team of James Connolly, who has actually visited someone's place of residence with his armed team to tell them to stop looking into misconduct on the part of the Government in cases. He has also been engaged in covering up misconduct on the part of the JAG in one particular case for some years.

The people you're dealing with here are criminals. They care about personal, political power. They care about their records of conviction, their "atta boys" in the personnel file, and their next rank. Nothing more.

Of course, their tactics work. Why else would you see 6 out of the 8 innocent Pendleton Marines take a plea deal? (Two more are about to plead out, according to family members--I'll be writing on this soon).

Between the three major cases coming out of Iraq at the moment (Pendleton 8, Haditha, and the Iron Triangle), these are just SOME of the tactics they have resorted to in order to make these guys take a deal. The following can be verified with the attorneys, family members, visitors, etc.

1. Don't allow them to have mail.
PFC Corey Claggett of the Iron Triangle Case had prison guards rip up his mail in front of him and say he wasn't allowed "fan mail."

2. Don't allow them to communicate with family.
All the men in the cases have had to pay exorbitant amounts for phone calls, or were simply not allowed to call. In one soldier's case, the Army moved him away from the Navy brig where the other soldiers in his case were--and where his parents lived close to--and instead moved him to a county jail in another state. Meanwhile, they left the other defendants in the Navy brig, even though their own parents lived near the county jail.

3. Don't feed them.
At least one soldier was not given meals on more than one occasion. He has recently taken a plea deal.

4. Keep them in solitary confinement (the "hole") for months at a time for small offenses.
One soldier was sentenced to 60 days for using a blanket they gave him to cover up with. The guards gave him the blanket, and then ordered him not to use it. After they left, he wrapped himself in the blanket because he was freezing. This soldier also was given 60 more days for leaning his back against the wall while sitting on his bunk.

5. Put them through psychological and physical exercises meant to break them down and establish dominance of the guards/military officials.
In one case, a staff officer went into cells and forced the men to stand at attention for hours, or hold uncomfortable positions for long periods of time.

6. Cut off their pay.
Some of the Pendleton Marines have families and small children. However, the Government cut off their pay, claiming that since their enlistment would be over now had they not been charged, the Gov't is under no obligation to continue to pay them. They have not received a paycheck in months.

7. Forge confessions and lie about testimony.
One several occasions, attorneys have gone into the troops' cells and told them that their co-defendants had taken a plea, even showing them statements their co-defendants supposedly signed as proof. The signatures were forged, and the "confessions" were fake.

I could go on for months. I am serious as can be when I tell you that this is the most ridiculous situation you could think of.

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