Posted on 08/12/2007 4:07:09 PM PDT by RedRover
Day Two / Tuesday, June 12 / NCIS Special Agent Mark Platt
Bumbling NCIS agents have been on horrifyingly hilarious display in the Haditha hearings. It was clear to anyone watching LCpl Justin Sharratt's hearing that he should never have been charged in the first place.
Agents broke every rule of an unbiased investigation...
A highlight (or lowlight, depending on your point-of-view) was the testimony of NCIS Special Agent Mark Platt. You can read his entire testimony here. Or just enjoy one of the best moments of testimony by a real-life Inspector Clouseau below (with my comments in italics).
I actually started with Barney Fife but there was an arrogance to Platt that lead me to Clouseau. Besides, I have to save something for the next time!
I actually started with Barney Fife but there was an arrogance to Platt that lead me to Clouseau. Besides, I have to save something for the next time!
Thanks for the Polygraph, Red and the echo. :-)
D’oh!
D’oh!
:-) :-)
ping....hey jude
LOL, that is an excellent graphic!
I would trust Clouseau way before I would trust NCIS.
Yes, I'm sure the prosecution is steaming mad that NCIS investigators can't lie better.
Good grief! This reads like a bad movie script.
These people were in charge of investigating allegations against United States Marines??
What the heck?!
LOLOL! That’s hilarious, Lancey!
That’s exactly what makes all this so revolting.
The whole transcript is loaded with gems (BTW, love your puss!).
All through the testimony, SPlatt claims he doesn't discuss any of the interview with case agent Mannle, in fact, on minute 175, testifies that he went to the house with SA's Brady & Maloney - no word of Mannle, and I got the impression he never spoke to her again.
But then, in minute 192, it's revealed that Mannle was in the living room of the same house at the same time SPlatt was digging out shell fragments in the bedroom and listening to a "narrative".
Yet, he and Mannle never talked about the case again.
Right. I think the prosecution just slam dunked one...in their own goal.
Questions by the investigating officer:Seems that this indicates the IO just discounted Platt's testimony; not necessarily that he will ignore any exculpatory info produced by the Defence though.
IO Q. Because it is confusing to me that you would advise someone of their rights and essentially all your questions are what kind of training did you receive.
Platt A. Right. These questions were very benign. There was no follow-up.
IO Q. And several of the responses were, No, I don't think I got sufficient understanding of this or that.
Platt A. Right.
IO Q. And you just passed this on to the Army for their admin investigation?
Platt A. That is correct. This interview that I participated in had absolutely nothing to do with your investigation whatsoever.
IO IO: That was my conclusion as well. Counsel have any follow-up with regard to Investigative Exhibit 45?
Red-
Have you any idea what Platt is talking about in these excerpts from my Post #18?
The previous team of NCIS agents that had deployed out into that area, for whatever reason, the photographs that they took at house four somehow were compromised.
~~~~~~~~~~
Q. How many days after the deaths did these interviews take place, approximately?
A. It was approximately ten days.
There are rules for evidentiary photographs (color bars in the photos, photos of the setting, etc.) that establish the time, place, and general authenticity of what the photos show. Otherwise, the photos only seem to show one thing or another.
This came up in the LCpl Tatum hearing. None of the photos used by the prosecution had much evidentiary value because they followed none of the rules.
Platt mentions using photos taken by pfcs after the incident. Those were taken for identification purposes of the bodies--not as crime scene evidence.
That's the best guess I can make about his meaning.
The scary part is that all these NCIS agents see themselves as Tom Cruise going after Col. Jesup rather then the arbiters of the truth.
But even scarier then that is that there seems to be teams of NCIS agents running around Iraq looking into every battlefield action trying to find one that can be proven to be a massacre and that perhaps these teams are the source McGirk’s and Murtha stories.
Maybe I’m wrong but if The NCIS were investigating this incident ten days after it happened, then they knew more about it then The two Iraqi “Human Rights” activists (one of whom was locked up during the incident) did before they approached McGirk with videos and even before any other sort of investigation was suggested through the chain of command and even before Murtha said these Marines killed in cold blood....
The Thought then occurs to me at least that they could have orchestrated the actions of the Iraqis “Human Rights activists”, McGirk, and Murtha or at least had a hand in feeding them this story until it grew some legs.
It is just the kind of back room political trickery we have come to expect from the operatives of a certain political party with a liberal idology you know the one that puts it’s quest for power above the defense of the Nation.
The prosecutor, LtCol Wiley Coyote, must have had that we-just-stepped-off-the-cliff feeling. He’ll have many more in the weeks to come. Metaphorically, he’s stuck running a Silk Purse Shop with only sows’ ears in stock.
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