Hearing Continues in Haditha Case, Associated Press, July 17, 20067
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Unlike several members of his squad, Lance Cpl. Humberto Manuel Mendoza is not facing charges for shooting two Iraqis in Haditha after a fellow Marine was killed in a roadside bomb.
Instead, the 22-year-old infantryman has been given immunity from prosecution in the case. He is required, however, to testify against his fellow Marines.
Mendoza was expected to take the stand Tuesday at a preliminary hearing for Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, one of three Marines charged with murder in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in November 2005.
Another squad member, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, may also testify Tuesday. The government dropped murder charges against Dela Cruz in April and he also was given immunity from prosecution.
They are among at least seven Marines to receive immunity in the case.
Mendoza told investigators in March 2006 he shot at least two men because they were in houses declared hostile.
Several members of the squad assaulted the homes in a search for insurgents after a roadside bomb blast killed one Marine.
Mendoza said he and several other Marines, including Tatum, went to a house soon after the blast. There, Mendoza told investigators, he shot a man in a room who was standing by a closet.
"He opened the closet door with his left hand and was reaching inside with his right hand while looking at me. ... I shot him several times," Mendoza in a statement. "I never said anything to him."
Mendoza said he shot another man through a glass door in a different house.
"I was following my training that all individuals in a hostile house are to be shot," Mendoza told investigators.
Mendoza was given immunity Dec. 18, just days before the Marine Corps announced murder charges against four enlisted men and dereliction of duty charges against four officers.
Tatum is charged with murdering two Iraqi girls and killing other civilians in Haditha. At the opening of his hearing Monday, his attorney said Tatum believed he was following procedure by confronting a threat with deadly force.
Besides unpremeditated murder, Tatum is charged with negligent homicide on suspicion that he unlawfully killed two men, a woman and a young boy. He is also accused of assaulting another boy and a girl. If convicted of murder, he faces up to life in prison.
The squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, is charged with murdering 18 Iraqis. His preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 22.
After the Article 32 investigation, the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, hearing officer Lt. Col. Paul Ware will assess the evidence against Tatum and recommend whether he should face a court-martial. The final decision rests with Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the general overseeing the case.
"Knowing what I know now, I feel badly about killing Iraqi civilians who may have been innocent," Tatum told Navy investigators in March 2006. "But I stand fast in my decisions that day, as I reacted to the threats that I perceived at that time."
how does Mendoza’s testimony help the prosecution ?
it dove-tails nicely with everything the defense has brought out - since immunity was granted.
I’m guessing DeLa Cruz’s testimony also damn’s the prosecution, though his original story seems to indicate otherwise.
Time for this farce to end.
Semper Fi....far and wide.
That simply is not true. He is required to tell the truth. If he has nothing "against" them to say, OR if he is not sure, then he should not make stuff up.
The media has acted so far as if all of these guys are guilty. They write their stories that way.
The evidence will show that there was a huge firefight going on all around them with other squads from this platoon engaged. There are grenades going off, machine guns rattling, small arms fire, and eventually even bombs going down on the houses all around.
These write-ups give the impression that this was some quiet neighborhood, except for an IED explosion, that was invaded by storm trooper Marines looking for retribution.
What a crock!
Our Marines are innocent unless railroaded due to command influence by the chair of the Armed Service Committee of the Appropriations Committee...John Murtha.
Mendoza has my respect for now. According to the article he did his job and he stayed alive. Hopefully you won’t do a “shame ping” this evening stating otherwise.