Posted on 05/01/2007 11:50:12 AM PDT by RedRover
CAMP PENDLETON -- Prosecutors are withdrawing assault charges filed last year against a Marine officer who commanded a platoon charged in the killing of an Iraqi civilian.
The two criminal charges against 2nd Lt. Nathan Phan will be withdrawn but he will be subject to a lesser, non-judicial administrative proceeding, said Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a Marine Corps spokesman. That could result in an action such as a letter in his file or some other form of minor punishment.
Prosecutors had accused Phan of choking two Iraqi detainees in the village of Hamdania, saying he placed an unloaded pistol against one's mouth and sprayed soda pop in the nose of another, telling the detainee it was acid.
The incidents took place early last year during an attempt to gather intelligence about insurgent activity in an Anbar province region northwest of Baghdad.
The case against Phan arose from actions by him and his platoon a few weeks before the April 26 slaying of a retired Iraqi policeman in the village of Hamdania. The slaying resulted in murder and related charges against eight men from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment that were under his command.
Phan was not present when the slaying took place and had no knowledge of it until it was reported by the slain man's family.
The eight men Phan led in Hamdania were charged last June with the killing; five were convicted in plea agreements. Two months after the eight were charged, the Marine Corps filed three assault charges against Phan, along with a charge of making a false official report.
During a tumultuous hearing in January to determine whether Phan should face trial, several enlisted Marines testified that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service fabricated statements implicating the 26-year-old Sacramento native in the assaults.
The hearing featured drastically conflicting testimony on the assault allegations. There was no testimony to support the charge that Phan ever filed a false official statement. In the latter charge, prosecutors contended he filed a radio report saying a detainee had been released when in fact the man was still in custody.
Following the hearing, Lt. Gen. James Mattis dismissed one of the three assault charges and the false report accusation, but he ordered Phan to face court-martial on two assault charges. Mattis is the convening authority over the case as head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East.
Why Mattis dropped the remaining two charges was not immediately clear Tuesday.
Phan's attorneys have said they believed they would have been successful in showing he was not present when one of the alleged victims was beaten by men under his command, and that the second charge that he pointed an unloaded pistol at another detainee was not a crime.
David Sheldon, Phan's lead attorney, was in court Tuesday morning and not available. Marine prosecutors are forbidden from discussing ongoing cases.
Phan's five-day court session ended with the hearing officer, Lt. Col. William Pigott, shouting at Sheldon. The outburst came after Sheldon said he intended to appeal several of Pigott's rulings and file a complaint over the officer's conduct throughout the hearing.
The Hamdania case is separate from allegations that a different group of Camp Pendleton men murdered two dozen Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha in November 2005. Three enlisted Marines face murder charges in that incident, and four officers are charged with failing to fully report the incident.
The first court hearing in the Haditha case begins next week; one of the officers, Capt. Randy Stone, is due in court for a hearing to determine if dereliction of duties charges against him should stand.
Pigott has been assigned as the hearing officer for that proceeding.
See more on the Phan story in Wednesday's North County Times.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com
What am I missing? I don't see where it said he can't. Congrats to Lt Phan.
Far as I know, he can. But...
The devil is in the details. He wants to lead a platoon in Iraq.
Lt Pantano, despite being exonerated, resigned because he felt he would never be trusted as a platoon commander again. That was his judgement. It wasn’t based on an actual assignment by the Corps.
Hopefully, the Corps will assign Lt Phan based on his prior record. If so, all should be well.
I wasn’t a Marine but with the letter of reprimand in his permanent personnel record I would think the chances of promotion are pretty slim. I also don’t believe you see a lot of old LT’s in the Marine Corps.
I think you’re right, jaz. The likeliest bet is that he’ll get some desk job until they can release him under the “up or out” policy.
Good news about the charges being dropped. But as many here indicate, the Marine’s future in the Corps., just may have been ruined because of a bunch of rotten bastards.
And another experienced officer (Pantano being the other) now will sit on the sidelines of the War on Terror.
Sounds like suspected terrorists in a war zone have more rights than kids out on a date.
Sadly. It appears so.
Like I said, my daughter uses Marines to practice her blood choke hold.
Thank you Lt. Phan, for your service to my country, my family. Please accept my deepest gratitude for the sacrifices you’ve made on our behalf.
Yes, I remember you said that. Gave me a glimpse into a quiet evening at home for the frees.
Be well, ma. We’d be lost without you.
Both have been observing the LCpl Sharratt hearing along with Jack Zimmermann, civ attorney.
BTW, one member of Lt Phan's defense team joined us on a Lt Phan thread while that case was underway (correcting an error I had made). So, once again, we get noticed!
Give’m heck Cord and Munoz!
CAMP PENDLETON -- A lieutenant in charge of the squad of troops accused of kidnapping and killing an Iraqi man last year testified Thursday that he was "frustrated, agitated and irritated" on learning that suspected insurgents that the squad had captured had been released by higher authorities.
"I send my boys out to risk their necks to capture these individuals and they are subsequently released," 2nd Lt. Nathan Phan said.
Phan took the stand as a defense witness for Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, who is a member of a squad of Camp Pendleton troops accused in the slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the rural Iraqi village of Hamdania on April 26, 2006.
Phan's testimony may help explain what led the troops to a plot to kidnap and kill a highly suspected insurgent, then cover it up.
The eight men were accused of snatching Hashim Ibrahim Awad from bed in the Iraqi village of Hamdania in the early morning hours of April 26, 2006. Awad was marched about a mile down the road, where they shot him and then staged the scene to make it appear that the 52-year-old retired Iraqi policeman had been planting a roadside bomb.
The men had originally targeted Saleh Gowad, who was a known and wanted insurgent in the area, according to testimony. When Gowad could not be found, they settled on snatching Gowad's neighbor.
Also on base to take the stand for Magincalda was Cpl. Trent Thomas, who last week was acquitted of murder but convicted of conspiracy and other charges for his role in Awad's death. The jury spared Thomas from jail -- he faced up to life in prison -- and instead sentenced him to a bad-conduct discharge.
But if or when Thomas will testify remained unclear Thursday evening. His attorney, Victor Kelley, contacted at his Alabama home, said he had been unaware of the plan for Thomas to testify until earlier that day. Kelley said he does not want his client to take the stand unless he is given immunity. Even though the trial is over, there are always "collateral" issues that could affect Thomas if he testifies, Kelley said.
Six of the Camp Pendleton-based men, including Thomas, have been convicted of roles in the plot. Five of the most junior-ranking of the accused pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against their squad mates.
The men who pleaded guilty were on the stand this week, testifying for the government in the cases against Magincalda and squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, who are being court-martialed in separate Camp Pendleton courtrooms.
Testimony in the two hearings yielded little new information not already revealed in previous public hearings.
Pvt. Robert Pennington gave more detail into the conversation between four of the men -- including Hutchins and Magincalda -- as they stood in the moonlight in a palm tree grove and outlined and narrowed their plot to snatch Gowad.
Pennington, who pleaded guilty and is serving an eight-year sentence for his role, said he was keen on the idea of killing Gowad.
"I was saying, 'Yeah, he's an (expletive). He needs to die,' " Pennington said.
bttt
“Why am I getting the impression the military justice system at Camp Pendleton and the NCIS is in a self destruct mode?”
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that these maggots are nothing more than BATF agents in training. That entire organization needs to be stripped of personnel and those asshats reassigned to the grunt units currently in Iraq they are trying to railroad.
Preferably on permanent point duty.
Oh boy...the chickens are coming home to roost...at last.
I couldn’t agree with you more and I said that almost three months ago, I feel stronger about it now. The NCIS is pathetic.
Maybe it’s time to get rid of UCMJ and go back to “Rocks and Shoals.” I think that would also eliminate NCIS.
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