More info from day #1 of the hearing from San Diego Union Tribune by Steve Liewer, July 17, 2007
Marine acted in self-defense in Iraq killings, attorneys say
CAMP PENDLETON – Marine Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum was following orders and acting in self-defense when he helped kill about 10 people in Haditha, Iraq, almost two years ago, his attorneys said yesterday
Deadly force was the proper response to a threat to himself and his fellow Marines,” lawyer Jack Zimmerman said during his opening statement in the pretrial hearing for Tatum at Camp Pendleton.
Tatum is one of three Marines from Camp Pendleton's Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment accused of murdering as many as 24 civilians on Nov. 19, 2005. Four officers are charged with failing to properly investigate the killings.
Prosecutors said the three murder suspects went on a rampage against civilians after a bomb struck their infantry convoy, killing a fellow Marine. The defendants maintain those civilians were caught up in legitimate combat between Marines and insurgents.
Tatum is charged with two counts of unpremeditated murder, four counts of negligent homicide and one count of assault. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
The killings involving him took place in two houses near the site of the bomb blast. Zimmerman said Tatum's squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, labeled the homes as hostile because he believed insurgents were shooting at Marines from inside those dwellings.
“We would have chaos on the battlefield if every lance corporal questioned every order given by a staff sergeant,” Zimmerman said.
No one at yesterday's court session pinpointed how many civilians Tatum killed or how many people died in the two houses.
But in March 2006, Tatum told investigators that he, Wuterich and other members of the squad stormed into the first home after hearing the metal-on-metal sound of an AK-47 rifle being prepped for firing.
Wuterich and another Marine then shot into a room in that house. Tatum said he joined in and shot at least four people at a distance of about 20 feet.
In the second home, Tatum said, he may have shot as many as five people. He determined that the dwelling was hostile because Wuterich began firing his weapon. “Knowing what I know now, I feel badly about killing Iraqi civilians who may have been innocent,” Tatum said. “But I stand fast in my decisions that day, as I reacted to the threats that I perceived at that time.”
Testifying yesterday under a grant of immunity, Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner said the Haditha death scene horrified him. He was a counter-intelligence specialist who surveyed the site a few hours after the killings took place.
Laughner described a room in one house where the bodies of a woman and several children lay on a bed. In another house, he saw a woman who had died huddled over a small child, apparently trying to shield the youngster.
Laughner said he found no evidence of insurgents in the two houses. He
did discover some shell casings in the entrance to one home that likely came from Iraqis' AK-47 rifles mixed with some others from U.S. troops' M-16s.
Prosecutors contend that Tatum didn't follow the military's rules of engagement when he stormed into the dwellings.
The lead prosecutor, Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury, yesterday gave the court copies of rules-of-engagement cards that were supposed to have been distributed to Tatum's unit. The cards state that Marines need to positively identify targets as having a hostile intent before using deadly force, Atterbury said.
“Marines have to be held accountable,” he added.
Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the presiding officer, will assess the evidence against Tatum and recommend whether he should face trial. The final decision rests with Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.
Last week, Ware recommended that another Haditha defendant charged with murder – Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt – not face court-martial. Ware questioned the credibility of Iraqi witnesses and raised concerns about the interviewing techniques of military investigators.
Zimmerman hopes he, too, can persuade Ware that his client was doing his job as a Marine.
“He did what his country trained him to do,” Zimmerman said. “Now he's facing murder charges and a life sentence.”