Posted on 08/30/2007 3:30:44 AM PDT by RedRover
Investigating officer reports on the prior hearings of enlisted men are linked below:
LOS ANGELES -- By his own account, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich told his junior Marines to shoot first and ask questions later as they assaulted several houses in Haditha, Iraq, killing the occupants with grenades and gunfire.
Now, nearly two years later, a hearing officer at Camp Pendleton was to begin taking evidence Thursday to determine whether the squad leader should stand trial on murder charges in the Nov. 19, 2005, attack that left 24 Iraqis dead.
Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., faces unpremeditated murder charges in 18 of the deaths, the biggest case to have emerged against any U.S. troop who served in Iraq.
Among the dead were women and children, who died as they scrambled for cover on and around a bed. It was Wuterich's first combat engagement.
The hearing officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, must decide if Wuterich strayed from military rules of engagement.
"These Marines were doing exactly as they were trained to do," Wuterich's military defense attorney Lt. Col. Colby Vokey said. "They were responding to an attack and a threat."
The killings occurred after a military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb that fatally wounded a Marine driver. Wuterich and another Marine shot a group of five men by a car at the scene. The squad leader then directed his men to clear several houses in hopes of killing whomever had set off the bomb.
Wuterich was among four Marines charged with murder, while four officers were charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the deaths. Prosecutors have since dropped charges against two of the enlisted Marines and one officer.
Wuterich told investigators in February 2006 that he believed he was taking small-arms fire from a house near the explosion so he told a four-man team to treat the building and its occupants as hostile, meaning they did not need to identify the occupants as insurgents before opening fire.
"I told them to shoot first, ask questions later," he told investigators.
Wuterich is also charged with making a false official statement and telling another Marine to do the same. He faces a possible life sentence and dishonorable discharge if convicted at court-martial.
Ware already has presided over two separate hearings in the case, when he listened to evidence against two of Wuterich's lance corporals - Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt - who were charged with murder. In both cases, Ware found prosecutors could not prove the Marines operated outside combat rules, and he recommended the charges be dismissed.
The general overseeing the case dismissed charges against Sharratt but has yet to rule in Tatum's case.
Tom Umberg, a former Army prosecutor, said Ware's assessment that Tatum and Sharratt did not deliberately violate combat rules could help Wuterich because he was involved in some of the same actions.
But, Umberg said, military officials often look with greater scrutiny at the actions of higher-ranking troops.
"The person in charge always bears the most significant responsibility," Umberg said.
A former squad mate was to testify against Wuterich. Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz was initially charged with murder, but prosecutors dropped the charges and gave him immunity to testify against Wuterich.
According to testimony in a previous hearing, Dela Cruz claims Wuterich shot the men by the car while they had their hands in the air.
"They were just standing, looking around, had hands up," Dela Cruz said at a hearing in May. "Then I saw one of them drop in the middle. I didn't know what was going on, sir. Looked to my left, saw Staff Sgt. Wuterich shooting."
Neal Puckett, one of Wuterich's nonmilitary attorneys, said he was not concerned about Dela Cruz's testimony and was confident that forensic evidence would contradict his version of events.
"It's a Dela Cruz/Wuterich credibility contest," said Thad Coakley, a major in the Marine reserves and a former Camp Pendleton prosecutor.
Is the media allowed access?
Any idea if Dinsmore will testify?
Yes, press will be allowed in. We’ll have Nat Helms there for us. I hope to have a report from him early this afternoon.
They have Maj. Dinsmore’s desposition. I don’t know if he’ll testify by phone from Iraq (all the defense witnesses were redeployed—key prosecution witnesses were given cushy jobs stateside).
This should also be on the list of evidences of command influence.
Thanks Red, and all of you others, who have followed this and have provided so much support to all of these Marines and their families.
To SSgt. Wuterich and Family - I hope that as the trial begins today you can feel the love, the support and strength, and the prayers being sent to you to help you through this Article 32.
To SSgt. Wuterich - Stand Tall and Stand Proud. You are a United States Marine. You did your job honorably, professionally, and to the best of your ability. You have many, many supporters out here that you will never meet who are pulling for you. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers.
Thanks for the excellent synopsis, Red.
SSgt. Frank Wuterich - I’ll be praying for you today.
BTW, I set up a "chat" thread, like a green room where we can hang out and ask each other if we've heard anything yet.
Do you remember when you said you would see this through, ‘til the bitter end’?
As always, Red, excellent background.
Thanks for the PING, Red. I’ve been away for a few days and am now catching up. I appreciate how on top of this you are!
Prayers for SSgt Wuterich and his family.
Me Lie II is falling faster than NYT Stock Prices
Pray for W and Our Marines
Marine testifies against alleged Haditha ringleader, Reuters, August 30, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Aug 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine testified on Thursday that he shot at least two unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine in his squad in November 2005.
Lance Cpl. Humberto Mendoza told a military hearing at the Camp Pendleton Marine base in southern California that he helped squad members "clear" Iraqi houses after the bomb ripped apart his comrade Lance Cpl. Miguel "T.J." Terrazas.
Mendoza was testifying at a hearing against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, accused of being the ringleader of the troops who prosecutors say massacred 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha in retaliation for the death of Terrazsas on Nov. 19, 2005.
The hearing, which is expected to last several days, will determine whether Wuterich should face a court martial for his part in the shootings.
The Haditha killings were among a series of apparent abuses by U.S. soldiers in Iraqi towns and at the Abu Ghraib prison that caused outrage in Iraq and internationally.
Mendoza said he was a member of Wuterich's squad and was in a four vehicle convoy when the roadside bomb went off in Haditha and joined Wuterich and two other Marines in "clearing" nearby Iraqi homes afterward.
In one case, Mendoza said Wuterich knocked on the door of one house and told him; "Just wait until he opens the door and shoot."
In another instance Mendoza said he opened fire on an unarmed Iraqi man. "I got scared thinking he was trying to get a weapon so I started to shoot until he went down ... After all those rounds I was pretty sure he wasn't going to get up," Mendoza testified.
Mendoza, who is not among the eight Marines charged in the Haditha case, was the first witness at the hearing.
Attorneys for Wuterich are expected to argue that the civilians died during a chaotic house-to-house battle in the western Iraqi town.
"The argument is quite simple, that the Marines that day were reacting to a hostile and dynamic environment and that their conduct, although it led to tragic results, was completely lawful," Wuterich attorney Mark Zaid told Reuters ahead of Thursday's hearing.
"The civilians who died were collateral damage as part of a combat operation where insurgents would intentionally place civilians into harm's way," Zaid said.
Military authorities earlier this month dismissed charges against two of the Marines, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt and Capt. Randy Stone, citing battle conditions against a "shadowy" insurgent enemy.
Murder charges were dismissed in April against Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz in exchange for his testimony. Four other Marines have still to be dealt with.
Still have to be dealt with? Why; were they handling a Peace March?
Dealt with -- as if these were juniors in High School and the Hall Monitors caught them. Sheesh!
I thought Mendoza didn't understand English. I don't picture the Marines knocking before shooting. More like, bust it down and take care of business.
**In one case, Mendoza said Wuterich knocked on the door of one house and told him; “Just wait until he opens the door and shoot.”**
first I’ve heard of claims of that statement from Wuterich. I thought Mendoza testified that someone else knocked on the door?
As far as the charges - specification 13 can be tossed as the previous 2 hearings ruled ROE were followed and there was no excessive force.
How could dela cruz see one guy start to fall and THEN look over to see Wuterich firing? IMHO I think the guy was going for a weapon or Wuterich thought he was and then Wuterich shot him.
That is such a transparent lie.
Mendoza, if anyone, instigated the action in house 2 by shooting. Now Mendoza is lying to save himself from deportation by helping the prosecution.
Fortunately, the IO is on record at finding Mendoza not credible as a witness. You can’t trust a liar to give reliable testimony about anything.
Agreed, Red and I hope he keeps on lying, we already know Lt. Col. Ware didn't buy into them before.
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