All charges dropped against 2 Marines in Haditha killings [LCpl Sharratt AND Capt Stone]

Associated Press via the San Diego Union Tribune ^ | August 9, 2007 | Thomas Watkins

[RedRover]

LOS ANGELES – All charges were dropped against a captain accused of failing to investigate the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps announced Thursday. Also, all charges were dropped against Marine Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, who had been accused of killing three Iraqi brothers in response to a roadside bomb attack in Haditha in 2005.

Capt. Randy W. Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer from Dunkirk, Md., was one of four officers charged with failing to adequately probe the killings.

"It is clear to me that any error of omission or commission by Capt. Stone does not warrant action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," Lt. Gen. James Mattis wrote.

Earlier Thursday, the Marine Corps announced that charges had been dismissed against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, who was accused of murdering three brothers in the assault.

"The evidence does not support a referral to a court-martial," Lt. Gen. James Mattis wrote in his written decision in the Sharratt case. Under military law, a commanding general has total jurisdiction over a case.

Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., had been charged with murder in the deaths of three of those killed after the bomb attack on Nov. 19, 2005.

The decision to drop the charges followed an earlier recommendation from a hearing officer who listened to evidence in the case.

In his recommendation, Lt. Col. Paul Ware said murder charges brought against Sharratt were based on unreliable witness accounts, insupportable forensic evidence and questionable legal theories.

"The government version is unsupported by independent evidence," Ware wrote in an 18-page report. "To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary."

Prosecutors alleged Sharratt and other members of his battalion engaged in a revenge-motivated assault on Iraqi civilians after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine. Sharratt contended the Iraqi men he confronted were insurgents and at least one was holding an AK-47 rifle when he fired at them.

Ware said prosecution of Sharratt could set a "dangerous precedent that ... may encourage others to bear false witness against Marines as a tactic to erode public support of the Marine Corps and its mission in Iraq."

"Even more dangerous is the potential that a Marine may hesitate at the critical moment when facing the enemy," Ware said.

Mattis said he made his decision after looking at all the evidence presented at the Article 32 evidence hearing, much like a preliminary hearing in criminal courts.

"You have served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq where our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians," Mattis wrote.

"Operational, moral and legal imperatives demand that we Marines stay true to our own standards and maintain compliance with the law of war in this morally bruising environment," he said.

"With the dismissal of these charges, you may fairly conclude that you did your best to live up to the standards ... in the face of life or death decisions made by you in a matter of seconds in combat."

Besides Sharratt, two other enlisted men were charged with murder. Four officers were accused of failing to investigate the deaths.

[RedRover]

I understand that statements made by legislators while on the floor of the House or Senate are protected. Does that extend to statements made outside of the Legislature, as in, to the press?

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled that congressmen are not exempt from libel suits. The Sen Proxmire case settled that.

But despite that ruling, and despite the fact that Murtha gave these interviews from his campaign headquarters, the DOJ denied a request to have Murtha deposed.

Wuterich's civ lawyers (Neal Puckett and Mark Zaid) appealed the denial. Their contention is they need a deposition to know the facts. That's the state of play.

I called Mark Zaid today--and got him on his vacation in Maine. He said he hasn't read Mattis' statements yet. Hopefully, this all will be grist for the mill.

I'll post updates as we learn more.

[cookcounty]

Where do we contribute to the civil lawsuit fund against Jack Okinawa Murtha????

[jazusamo]

I hear you!

There have been no defense funds set up specifically for that. SSgt. Wuterich’s attorneys filed a civil suit last year and I don’t know the progress of it other than they are appealing a ruling against them to be able to depose Murtha.

We will provide any info if such funds are started. I don’t look for much to happen with that until all the Article 32’s are completed.

[Eagles6]

This is fantastic news though the fight is far from over. It will be over when all charges have been dropped and murtha is censured, at the very least.

We do know, of course, that there is such a thing as an ex-Marine. It is john murtha.

[cookcounty]

Thanks for the lawsuit info. How like Murtha to be hiding from a deposition.

All these lies and hoaxes are really getting me riled up.

It would be great if some bloggers would go after the article in The Nation as well. The one written by Leila al-Arian. As in Sammy al-Arian (like father, like daughter).

[Girlene]

It must have been an awesome day for the Sharratt and Stone families. There will be more great days for the rest of the Haditha Marines.

Amen, Darryl. God Bless our Haditha Marines.

[Girlene]

Brit Hume summed up Murtha pretty well, AliVeritas. From your link in Feb, 2007

..... Look, this man [Murtha] has tremendous cachet among House Democrats, but he is not — this guy is long past the day when he had anything but the foggiest awareness of what the heck is going on in the world. And that sound bite is naivete at large, and the man is an absolute fountain of such talk, and the fact that he has ascended to the position he has in the eyes of the Democrats in the House and perhaps Democrats around the country tells you a lot about how much they know or care about what’s really going on over there.

I'd say that nailed it on Murtha.

[PGalt]

HOORAY!

[Velveeta]

It’s time for that slimebucket Murtha to apologize and resign.

[Nav_Mom]

I am going to call Martha's office & ask if he plans to apologize
I wish some of our jellyfish (R) leaders would do the same. ~~sigh~

[RedRover]

will be reported on Page Z99 of most main stream media outlets (if at all).

Correct. The New York Times' burial of the story today was typical.

As this was breaking, yesterday morning, my buddy Nat Helms wrote this to a contact at the New York Times:

You might want to alert your Pentagon reporters that today at 10am CA time LCpl Justin Sharratt, his civilian attorney Jim Culp and Marine SJA Lt. Col Cosgrove, are meeting with Lt Gen J.N. Mattis in his office at Camp Pendleton, CA. It is expected LCpl Sharratt will have all charges against him (unpremeditated murder and assault at Haditha, Iraq) dismissed.

I am not being magnanimous here, I want to see if the NYT is as objective as it claims... Rep. John Murtha (Dem-PA) accused Sharratt of cold blooded murder, and massacre... NYT repeated the charges adnauseam. He is and was innocent and NYT had the means and the resources to at least look into his situation and chose not to. Now his family is financially and emotionally devastated. Is NYT now going to report what it could have reported a year ago? I will eagerly await tomorrow's newspaper to discover the answer.

Then, based on the buried report in today's Times, Nat wrote this follow-up...

As I thought... A wire story buried in another story... Shame on your newspaper. First you accuse them of murder on the front page and then when they are exonerated your editors bury it... I used to be a college professor and often used the NYT as the model for a great newspaper...My face burns with shame thinking about it. Reasons such as this are why newspapers are dying... People aren't willing to be force-fed gruel prepared by arrogant scribes who can't cook.

[RedRover]

...considering the statements made with these dismissals, why is Lt Col Chessani going to court martial? Or is there just a recommendation for court martial? I thought someone said here that it would be highly unlikely for the General to go against a recommendation, yet now it’s proven in two cases there was no crime. What is the liklihood of the charges against those with hearings still pending being dismissed?

General Mattis has not made a decision to send the LtCol Chessani case to a court martial. The investigating officer has not yet written a recommendation.

During LtCol Chessani's Article 32, the IO (if you're hip to all this lingo) made statements that clearly signaled his intention to recommend a court martial.

Then the prosecutors asked that additional charges be added against Chessani.

This led to legal wrangling and to a new mini-Article 32 for the lieutenant colonel that is going on as I type. The last day, supposedly, is today.

As you say, it does seem that Gen Mattis is signaling a skepticism about the entire Haditha case. If the IO recommends that Chessani be tried at a court martial, Mattis may ignore the recommendation. Mattis ignored a recommendation in the Lt Phan case just recently.

Hope all that isn't too long-winded. It's hard to be succinct about all this, but I also don't want to put people to sleep trying to read more than they ever wanted to know!

[RedRover]

let’s keep praying.

Roger that!

[athelass]

Ok, I see. I know the military justice system works differently. If this case were in a civilian court, with the charges dropped against one defendant for lack of evidence the charges would be dropped against all the defendants. It’s just tough to think that the rest of these guys are going to have to go through Article 26 hearings when it’s already been decided so conclusively that the incident never happened. Thanks for explaining. With two sons in the Marine Corps I am following this case with anxiety.

[RedRover]

The complexity in the Haditha case is that there were four seperate actions:

In the first, five Iraqis were killed beside a white taxi. SSgt Wuterich is charged with their murder.

The second and third action were inside two houses and involved SSgt Wuterich and LCpl Tatum as the shooters.

The final action that day involved Wuterich and LCpl Sharratt as the shooters (I made this diagram for the Sharratt Article 32).

Does that help get a better picture of what the Haditha case is all about?

As of this writing, LCpl Sharratt is cleared for his actions, and Capt Stone is cleared of dereliction for his actions.

But the hearings go on. LCpl Tatum and SSgt Wuterich may still face court martials. And so may the officers. Even if Tatum and Wuterich are cleared, there could still be a question of whether the officers did their duty given the facts available to them.

All that aside, thank you for your sons' service and your family's sacrifice while they are deployed. May they be home soon!

[Paul Ross]

Bump.

[Navy Patriot]

am I right?

I think you are right, but that doesn't mean the courts will give the falsely accused Marines justice.

Your point goes to the reason I am so angry with Murtha. He is not about an investigation, he is about political posturing for personal gain while doing a disservice to the troops and the cause.

He could have insisted on an investigation and refused to speculate or speak to the press about it until complete. But then there wouldn't be much to talk about and the DemoRat opportunity would have passed him by.

[RedRover]

From Rush Limbaugh's site for August 10, 2007

Story #6: Haditha Charges Dropped, Drive-Bys Ignore

RUSH: "All charges have been dismissed against two Marines accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps announced Thursday. Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., was charged with murdering three brothers. Capt. Randy Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer from Dunkirk, Md., was charged with failing to adequately report and investigate the Nov. 19, 2005, combat action in which women and children were among the dead. In his decision to dismiss charges, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general with jurisdiction in the case, said he was sympathetic to the challenges Marines on the ground face in Iraq. 'Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield,' Mattis wrote in his letter to Sharratt." You know, I haven't seen this in the Drive-By news cycle. Have you seen this in the Drive-By Media? I haven't seen this story out there! Now, I remember when it happened we had pictures; we had allegations.

See, this is what the left does, the New Castrati. They go out there and say (impression), "See, this is the problem, Mr. Limbaugh, with the U.S. Military. This is the problem with war. This is an all-volunteer force. These are poor people that have no future in this country and so they join, and war turns them into murderous barbarians, Mr. Limbaugh!"

This is the mantra. That's one of the many clichés and action lines that the Democrats and the left have, so an incident like this gets reported, "It's true!" Just like the rape allegations against the lacrosse players at Duke. That fits another template: "Oh, it has to be true! Rich white guys taking advantage of a poor black woman? Oh, it had to happen! Lacrosse players? Absolutely!" Eighty-eight members of the faculty write a letter condemning the thing. The coach gets fired. None of it was true! None of it, and complicit in this... Nifong was the main culprit, but the Drive-Bys were the target. Why do you think he was doing what he was doing? It was to curry favor with the Drive-Bys so he could get his reelection chances up -- and now this! And where's Murtha? Where is the heroic ex-Marine conscience e of the House of Representatives, Jack Murtha on this? Have you seen an apology from Jack Murtha on this?

[RedRover]

WOOHOO!!!

lily's back!!!

[Freee-dame]

Thank you General Mattis