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As reported in the MarineCorps Times http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/05/marine_haditha_hearing_070504/

....Stone, of Dunkirk, Md., was the battalion’s lawyer. Gittins [Stone's lawyer] said he wants to show that Marines at every step of the chain of command were aware of the 24 civilian deaths, so any decision not to launch an investigation was shared.

According to court documents, Huck was briefed on the killings Nov. 22 and they did not seem suspicious. Huck told investigators that “no bells and whistles went off.”

Gittins said this illustrates the feeling among officers at the time, that based on information from the enlisted men, the killings were the result of a “troops in contact” engagement and officers acted appropriately in reporting events.....