Excerpt from the Investigating Officer's report in the LCpl Stephen Tatum case

Defned Our Marines ^ | August 24, 2007 | LtCol Paul J. Ware

[RedRover]

Related threads:

• Charges recommended to be dropped in LCpl Tatum Haditha case

• LCpl Stephen Tatum’s Statement to the Investigating Officer (As recalled by legal counsel)

• Haditha Article 32: LCpl. Stephen B. Tatum

[RedRover]

There is an interesting tidbit in the IO's report (too bad Rush wasn't on today):

Issues of unlawful command influence were raised by the defense in relation to the Honorable John Murtha, Congressman from Pennsylvania. Although I am unaware of any unlawful command influence at the Article 32 level, depositions are likely to be ordered.

To date, the Bush DOJ has blocked deposition orders for Congressman Murtha. It's time the AG's office stopped shielding Murtha and for the process of discovery to begin.

Oh, and...

[RedRover]

Marine Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, right, arrives with his civilian defense attorneys Jack Zimmerman, left, and Kyle Sampson, center, for his Article 32 Investigation Hearing at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego County Monday, July 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

[lilycicero]

Thanks for the text version.

[brityank]

Outstanding.

Thanks, Red.

Time to get the rope !

 

[One of the best cartoons of murtha I've seen.]

[jazusamo]

I would love to see Murtha deposed, if for nothing else but get him on the record under oath. I believe he will go to great lengths to avoid it being the liar he is.

Good job on the transcript, Red.

If you would like to help with the civilian lawyer’s legal fees for the
Haditha Marines you can do so by going to these sites.

Defend Our Marines

Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt

SSgt. Frank Wuterich

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani

NewsMax Fund Drive

[bray]

There was never any Case here. This was a political witch hunt by Turda and the Miltary Hating Press.

Pray for W and Our Marines

[xzins]

However, to be clear, I am not recommending the charges go forward. In recommending dismissal of the charges, I am finding that LCpl Mendoza's testimony is not credible and even if all the evidentiary hurdles are cleared, that LCpl Tatum had the legal right to rely on SSgt Wuterich's actions in house 2 as positive identification. Even if SSgt Wuterich were wrong, LCpl Tatum was entitled to act on his honest and reasonable belief that SSgt Wuterich was engaging legitimate targets. On 19 November 2005, in the mere seconds LCpl Tatum had to make a decision, he acted in accord with training, to engage targets that a fellow Marine was firing at, without time to fully assess the situation and reflect on what SSgt Wuterich was doing. It is only in hindsight that we can start to question why SSgt Wuterich was firing his weapon at children and conclude that LCpl Tatum should have deemed such actions were unwarranted.

This sounds like in Ware's mind that this puts a greater burden on SSG Wutterich when he gets evaluated by LTC Ware.

The leader is always at greater jeopardy. He's protecting his own, and he's more aggressive. In combat, the best defense is a great offense.

[bert]

Prior to the trial it was not prudent to go after Murtha. Now that he has been proven a liar and a traitor the situation is different.

[shield]

To date, the Bush DOJ has blocked deposition orders for Congressman Murtha. It's time the AG's office stopped shielding Murtha and for the process of discovery to begin.

Why????

[Girlene]

Outstanding job, Red, getting this posted from a pdf file. Among many aspects of Lt. Col. Ware's report, this is but just one point where he shows his comman sense and attention to detail.

IE 61, 62, 63 are transcripts of interviews of Eman, Abd and Safah. They ARE NOT accurate translations of what these witnesses said. They are the words of an interpreter who asks much more than the question calls for and the answers recorded in the transcript are an interpretation and in my opinion an extrapolation of what the witness said. To appreciate this one must watch the video while trying to follow along on the transcript. The transcript without the video is misleading, and the statements made by the interpreter will be inadmissible at a trial.

[RedRover]

Incredible, isn't it?

And a major BTW...

The conversion from pdf to text was thanks to the often imitated, often emulated, but never duplicated Steve Gilbert at Sweetness and Light.

And just to give further credit where it's due, it was Steve's brilliant analysis of the initial media reports regarding Haditha that got so many people interested in the media misrepresentations in the first place. Among other things, I believe Steve was the blogger who busted Time for its "budding journalism student" charade.

[ticked]

Excellent job posting that. Thank you.

[RedRover]

About a year ago, Sgt. Wuterich's attorneys, Neal Puckett and Mark Zaid, filed a defamation suit against Murtha. The first step in the discovery process was a request for a Murtha deposition.

The request was referred to the Justice Department who told the court no. Murtha was performing his duty as a congressman, according to the DOJ.

The lawyers filed an appeal of this decision and that's where things lay.

[RedRover]

Murtha hasn’t begun to feel the heat. But he will very soon.

[shield]

I hope and pray the court will see this differently...soon.

Hmmm...I'm thinking maybe the American Center for Law and Justice would like to get involved in this appeal...they do this type of thing at NO charge and they are very good. They're the group that has been fighting and winning for Chaplains to pray In The Name of Jesus...They've won many cases before the Supreme Court and are based in DC...http://www.aclj.org

[RedRover]

My pleasure. It’s good to get this up for the benefit of people who rely on Google searches of keywords.

[RedRover]

That’s good to know. I’ll pass it on!

[freema]

Yes!

[freema]

Dial up friendly ping!