Posted on 07/12/2007 6:30:18 PM PDT by RedRover
Hearing fact sheet
The hearing is scheduled to commence July 16, 2007.
The accused, LCpl. Stephen Tatum, was 25-years-old at the time of the incident, and was on his second combat tour. In 2004, Tatum fought (along with LCpl. Justin Sharratt) in the "House from Hell" in Fallujah .
Preferred Charges and Specifications:
Charge I: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 118 (Unpremeditated murder)
(Maximum punishment: such punishment other than death as a court-martial may direct. [Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, confinement for life])
Specification 1: did murder Noor Salim Rasif.
Specification 2: did murder Zainab Unes Salim.
Charge II: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 134 (Negligent Homicide)
(Maximum punishment: Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, confinement for 3 years)
Specification 1: did unlawfully kill Abdul Hameed Husin Ali.
Specification 2: did unlawfully kill Guhid Abdalhamid Hasan.
Specification 3: did unlawfully kill Asmaa Salman Rasif, also known as Asamaa Salman Rasif.
Specification 4: did unlawfully kill Abdullah Waleed Abdul Hameed, also known as Abdullah Waleed Abdul.
Charge III: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 128 (Assault)
(Maximum punishment: Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 8 years)
Specification: did commit an assault upon Eman Waleed Al Hameed and Abid Al Rahman Waleed Al Hameed.
Convening authority: Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces Central Commander for Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa.
Investigating officer: Lt. Col. Paul J. Ware.
Defense counsel: Jack B. Zimmermann (civilian attorney); Lt Col. Matthew Cord and Maj. Jeffrey Muñoz (military attorneys)
How the incident in this house occurred according to the media:
Josh White in the Washington Post (January 6, 2007):
[After the IED was detonated] Wuterich, Salinas, Tatum and Lance Cpl. Humberto M. Mendoza formed a team to attack the house, launching grenades first and then busting through the door.
"I told them to treat it as a hostile environment," Wuterich told investigators. "I told them to shoot first, ask questions later."
Defense attorneys have argued that the men were following their "rules of engagement" when they shot into the homes, using effective techniques in a difficult environment....
After entering the first house through a kitchen, Tatum told investigators, he heard what he believed was an AK-47 rifle being "racked," or readied to fire, around a corner. He and Salinas tossed grenades into the room, according to the documents. Waleed Hasan, 37, was killed. Khamisa Ali, 66, was shot dead in the hallway before four others were killed in a bedroom by grenades and rifle fire.
Nine-year-old Eman Hamed told investigators that a grenade landed near her grandfather's bed and exploded, sending shrapnel through the room. Her mother and 4-year-old brother were killed as she huddled, injured, with another brother, Abid, 6, who survived. "All rooms," Abid told investigators. "They were shooting in all rooms."
Several Marines said they quickly cleared the home by fire, shooting through the dust, debris and darkness to eliminate what they believed was a threat.
From there, Wuterich, Mendoza and Tatum said, they moved to a second house after suspecting that insurgents might have escaped. Mendoza told investigators that the Marines approached the second house the same way they did the first, treating it as hostile, according to his sworn statement. Mendoza said he shot a man, 43- year-old Yunis Rasif, through the house's glass kitchen door.
"I fired because I had been told the house was hostile and I was following my training that all individuals in a hostile house are to be shot," Mendoza told investigators. The Marines then entered the house and tossed grenades before firing into a back bedroom, which they later found was filled with women and children.
"Knowing what I know now, I feel badly about killing Iraqi civilians who may have been innocent, but I stand fast in my decisions that day, as I reacted to the threats that I perceived at the time," Tatum said. "I did not shoot randomly with the intent to harm innocent Iraqi civilians."
What to expect at the hearing: The prosecution will hit hardest on the action in house number two. They will argue that the Marines should have stopped to reconsider their tactics after seeing that civilians were killed in house number one.
The greatest weakness of the prosecution's case is that it is largely built on witness testimony, tape recorded in Iraq. Nearly all such testimony was discounted in the LCpl. Sharratt hearing and will undoubtedly be so again.
The only witness to the events in house number two is 13-year-old Safa Younis. She gave wildly different accounts to the media about what happened that morning. If inconsistencies don't disqualify her as a witness, her desire for revenge should. Regarding the Haditha Marines, she told CNN, "I want them to be tortured and killed. And I want them to leave our country."
Thanks for the update.
I believe LCpl. Stephen B. Tatum. He was doing his job, and as far as I’m concerned, he is a hero.
Haditha civilians killed by accident, Marine says, San Jose Mercury News, July 25, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON - With tears in his eyes and his voice breaking, a Marine lance corporal facing six murder charges told a hearing officer Tuesday that he did not realize that Iraqi women and children were in the line of fire when he began hurling grenades and firing his M-16.
"It was dark," Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum said. "I couldn't make out a lot - just targets I didn't know there were women and children in that house until later."
Tatum, 26, of Edmond, Okla., denied telling a fellow Marine and Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents that he knew the women and children were cowering in a back bedroom but decided to shoot anyway.
Tatum's three-minute unsworn statement came at his Article 32 preliminary hearing on charges stemming from an incident in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005.
After hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys today, the hearing officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, will make a recommendation to Lt. Gen. James Mattis on whether Tatum should face a court-martial.
Tatum was among a group of Marines ordered by their squad leader to search several houses after a roadside bomb killed one Marine and injured two. The Marines killed 24 civilians: five men pulled from a car and 19 family members in three houses.
Tatum is accused of killing four people in one house, including a young boy, and two in a second house, both young girls. He also is accused of assaulting a boy and girl who survived.
In his statement, Tatum said if he had known there were women and children present, "I would have physically stopped everyone in that room from shooting." Tatum said he assaulted the first house because he was told by his squad leader that gunfire was coming from it. In the second house, he heard someone cocking an AK-47, he said.
"I'm not comfortable with the fact that I might have shot a child," Tatum told Ware. "I don't know if my rounds impacted anybody. That's a burden I'll have to bear."
In his questioning of a Marine captain and a staff sergeant about the rules governing the use of deadly force, Ware displayed some of the same skepticism he expressed in recommending that Cpl. Justin Sharratt not face a court-martial for his role in the Haditha killings.
In that case, Ware said he was reluctant to second-guess a split-second decision made by a Marine infantryman, even if that decision later is shown to have been mistaken.
"What I'm hearing is a lot of 20-20 hindsight," Ware said.
Mattis has not made his decision about Sharratt; the preliminary hearing for a third Marine, Sgt. Frank Wuterich, is set for August.
Very good, Red. That sounds somewhat encouraging, seems LtCol Ware uses some common sense.
D’oh! Meant to ping you to 162 above.
This is a great report, Red, and especially the part about "20/20 hindsight," but it gets me angry beyond belief. They've got this kid up there, this young Marine, sobbing because of what his weapons might have done to possible innocents that the terrorists were using as human shields. (Note: he was smart to say that he didn't know if any of his rounds found any targets because it's probably true. However, how in the world can you convict this guy murder when you can't even prove that he killed someone???!!)
We've put this troop in the middle of chaos, and then all hell breaks loose all over the place. He tries his best to follow his orders and tries also to stay alive in the middle of it, and some starched shirt politician via the military jag is gonna second guess what he did in the middle of getting shot at.
Haditha -- Teaching our troops to die by Hesitation!
Marine: 'I didn't know there was women and children', North County Times, July 24, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON -- A Marine accused of killing women and children in a Iraqi home told a military judge Tuesday that he didn't know at whom he was shooting when he opened fire.
"I didn't know there was women and children in that house until later," Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum said in a hushed Camp Pendleton courtroom. "Otherwise, I would have physically stopped everybody in that room from shooting."
Tatum and two other enlisted Marines -- Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt -- face homicide charges in what has become the largest prosecution of war crimes to come out of Iraq since the U.S. invaded that country in 2003.
Tatum is charged in the deaths of six of 24 Iraqis killed by Marines on Nov. 19, 2005, moments after a roadside bomb killed a buddy and injured two others less than an hour after sunrise. The deaths took place in the village of Haditha.
Tatum's unsworn, three-minute statement came on the final day of testimony in a military hearing to determine whether he should face a court-martial for murder and other charges.
Prosecutors allege that the troops raided nearby homes and killed civilians in retaliation for the explosion.
Attorneys for the accused Marines have said that they were the target of enemy gunfire right after the explosion, and that they followed combat rules when they entered four homes in pursuit of their attackers.
Last week, a squad mate testified that he told Tatum there were women and children in one of the homes, and that Tatum ordered another Marine to kill them before doing it himself.
Tatum said Tuesday that conversation never happened.
After closing arguments this morning, the fate of the 26-year-old Oklahoma native will be largely in the hands of a military officer who will recommend whether to send Tatum to trial.
Haditha was a known hotbed of insurgent activity at the time of the incident, according to testimony in Tatum's hearing, which is scheduled to wrap up with closing arguments this morning.
On Tuesday, standing at a table with his attorneys, Tatum told Lt. Col. Paul Ware that he had "points I'd like to bring to light."
After the bomb explosion, the Marines were targeted by gunfire coming from the area of a nearby home, Tatum said. He said Wuterich, his squad leader, told him the house was "hostile," which means that enemies were thought to be inside it.
Tatum said he entered the home and heard someone racking an AK-47 gun. He and a second Marine tossed a grenade into a room, he told the officer, and went into the room after the grenade exploded.
"Visibility was horrible," Tatum said.
"I really couldn't make out more than targets," he said of the people in the room.
Tatum is accused of negligent homicide in the deaths of four people in that home, including a 4-year-old boy found with his mother's arm draped over his body He's also charged with unpremeditated murder in the deaths of two others in the second home.
Low visibility was a factor in the shootings in the second home as well, Tatum said.
"It was dark," Tatum said of the second home. "Couldn't make out a whole lot. Just targets."
Tatum said he did not learn until later that the "targets" were women and children, most of whom were found dead on a bed. Some of the children appeared to be between 3 and 5 years old, according to testimony.
"I'm not comfortable with the fact that I might have shot a child," Tatum said, his voice catching. "I don't know if my rounds impacted anybody. That is a burden I will have to bear."
The military has charged Tatum with unpremeditated murder in the deaths of two of victims in the room, both of whom were girls.
One of Tatum's squad mates, Lance Cpl. Humberto Mendoza, gave a different version of events last week, testifying that he told Tatum that frightened women and children were cowering in a bedroom -- and that Tatum ordered Mendoza to kill them. Mendoza said that when he refused, Tatum brushed past him and entered the room. Mendoza said he then heard a noise, but just what it was remains unclear. Mendoza has previously told prosecutors the noise was gunfire, but told defense attorneys it was a grenade explosion.
Mendoza, who admitted to shooting two unarmed men during the raid, was given immunity in exchange for his testimony.
Mendoza acknowledged on the stand that he initially lied to investigators about the incident and did not report the alleged conversation with Tatum for more than a year.
The defense maintains Mendoza is not credible. They also point out that Mendoza is trying to get his application for U.S. citizenship released by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is holding up his papers.
The cases against the accused Marines are built primarily on witness statements.
Families of the dead refused to let investigators exhume the bodies for autopsies, and the bulk of available evidence was photos of the bodies at the killing scenes. Marines took the photos to document the battle scene and to identify the victims. In some cases, the pictures did not show the victims' wounds.
Attorneys on both sides have handed Ware about 200 pieces of evidence to consider, including statements from the surviving children.
Ware is responsible for recommending to Lt. Gen. James Mattis whether Tatum should face a court-martial for his role in the deaths.
The military also charged four officers, including the battalion commander, with failing to investigate the incident properly.
Incredible, if true.
Excellent post #166
Mendoza’s testimony comes down to his word against Tatum’s, and Mendoza is already an acknowledged liar with a citizenship application for himself and his wife in the balance. (If it can be proven that this is being held over his head by NCIS, they should be prosecuted for extortion and obstruction of justice.)
Tatum says visibility was awful, dark, etc.
Grenades and available windows would explain that. There are many testimonies of grenades going off all over the place.
Basically, it’s beginning to sound like the US is prosecuting its own troops for being engaged in a firefight in the middle of a war. It gets more and more outrageous as this trial goes on.
Murtha and others are the explanation: there’s serious command influence behind the scenes.
I will NEVER be able to believe in the guilt of any of these men if they are convicted. There are far too many coincidences of leaked documents, leaked testimony, missing weapons, hushed witnesses, hidden evidence, strange public statements, and biased media accounting.
You got my attention on that one. That is “Incredible, if true”.
I wonder what's taking him so long? This guy Mattis is looking worse every day.
Gen Mattis still hasn’t reached a decision on the very first hearing, Capt. Randy Stone. The IO recommended that criminal charges be dismissed back on June 9.
It’s looking more and more like Mattis is in the tank.
The testimonial records so far divulged in the Article 32 Hearings only indicts NCIS, the USMC JAG, and SECNAV Winters.
Like reporter Tim McGirk, TIME magazine, and the Main Stream Media utilizing innuendo and insurgent propaganda, NCIS played fast and loose with the investigative protocols that should be used to determine the true facts and evidence for these cases. Testimony given under oath was refuted by both some of the subjects themselves, as well as other NCIS agents on scene. Several flat-out lies were attested to infer this was a stand-alone group on a rampage, instead of one small encounter in a day-long battle.
JAG misled the Investigating Officers into permitting more serious and specious charges than warranted. The Haditha Marines were pre-warned that the insurgents were planning a strike; that a white car would be involved; that the area in which they were operating was an insurgent stronghold with insurgent sympathizers in both the area’s government and populace. JAG portrayed this as a ride down a country lane in a pastoral setting, instead of a massed attack with sustained activity. The UCMJ mandates that those accused be given full and honest representation in every case from the start. That did not happen, and as a result these Marines and their families are going broke to present the correct version of events.
Secretary of the Navy Winters was appraised of the mistakes and false evidence presented by NCIS and asked to investigate those claims. He refused, saying he believed they operated correctly, evidence otherwise discounted. Winters and his Rear Echelon Military Fakes are the ones who should be up on charges and dismissed from service.
As others have said, let this type of action continue and good luck getting and retaining qualified members in Military Service.
Let’s fix that: “they did not want any inconsistencies.” should be they did not want to explain why the interview statements didn’t match the actual words of the accused Marines. Much easier to make stuff up
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girlene - you hit the damned nail on the damned head!
I agree, brit and fortunately it looks like the IO has common sense and sees much of it the same.
playing catch up here but damn that is incredible testimony from Tatum - brought tears to my eyes just thinking of what this brave young man will have to live with just from war much less what this farce has done to him. he deserves so much better than this...
my take on mendoza is “bought and paid for”... if any of Wuterich’s attorneys can pin this whole citizenship thing down, it will be over!
i am heartened my Ware’s comments though.
My apology — I misspelled SECNAV’s name; it should be Winter.
That said — he and BGen. Walker should be fired, and NCIS overhauled by firing Director David Brant and his immediate staff and replacing them with fully vetted Military Officers.
Thomas A. Betro became the third civilian Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on January 8, 2006, following his appointment to the position by the Honorable Dr. Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy.Need to pay better attention to sourcing. Sorry.
We forgive you.
Like I noticed?
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