Prosecution’s star witness in Haditha case crumbles on the stand

Defend Our Marines ^ | September 1, 2007 | Nathaniel R. Helms

[RedRover]

Nat Helms is a Contributing Editor to Defend Our Marines. He is a Vietnam vet, journalist, combat reporter, and, most recently, author of My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story (Meredith Books, 2007).

[Guenevere]

bttt

[jazusamo]

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

[RedRover]

Lest anyone think that Nat Helms' bias toward the Marines has led him to overstate the quality of Sgt. Dela Cruz's testimony, even the Washington Post agreed...

The [value of] testimony by Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz was diluted by withering defense attacks on his credibility. At one point in a contentious four-hour review of his earlier, often contradictory accounts, the quest for truth grew so convoluted, the witness implored to be disbelieved: "I did lie about that, sir," Dela Cruz said.

[armymarinemom]

ping

[jazusamo]

Another good piece by Nat Helms and thanks for linking the WaPo article.

[Maelstorm]

My question is why our Marines are being put through this circus? They had just been attacked. Some guys exit a vehicle nearby. If they made a mistake, they made a mistake but mistakes happen. The question is whether it was a reasonable mistake given the situation. I think anyone can say it was more than reasonable. I don’t want our soldiers waiting for the enemy to attack them after an IED attack which is a VERY common tactic. This is a symptom of what is wrong with the Bush Administration and the execution of this war. You can’t have our soldiers being run through the mill while a war is going on being forced to doubt themselves and their instincts because of ambiguous circumstances.

[radar101]

One of BEST books I have ever read.
Easy to read, tells you a lot about Kasal, and the battle for Fallujah.

[uncbob]

They had just been attacked. Some guys exit a vehicle nearby.

Why would anybody exit a car just after an explosion took place

I would either stay in the vehicle or get out of the area

[MindBender26]

Just a note of caution:

This is one man’s opinion of testimony. This author is far from disinterested in the case. Although the court martial panel may have intrepreted this testimony the same way the author did, they may not have as well.

Law rule #17: Never assume the jury thinks the same way you do.

[trek]

Somebody better tell Brian de Palma quick.

[tobyhill]

The new drone video clearly shows the vehicle and bodies not in an execution style aftermath but in a fleeing layout. They are scattered and appear to be approx. 30-50 ft from each other. An execution style killing, even if they tried to flee, would leave them no more than a maximum 20 ft from each other.

[lewislynn]

It's all very clear.

Publicly prosecute servicemen and border patrol agents for doing their jobs then no one will want to be servicemen or border patrol agents...Those that do will just be empty suits afraid to act.

And dare I say Bush is an enabler.

[uncbob]

You can’t have our soldiers being run through the mill while a war is going on being forced to doubt themselves and their instincts because of ambiguous circumstances.

You can blame the media for that

[fatima]

Reads like a book.

[RedRover]

Law rule #17: Never assume the jury thinks the same way you do.

But then there's Law rule #16: Never play to a jury when there is none.

The hearing is being judged by an Investigating Officer. In his report on the LCpl Tatum case, the IO dismissed testimony by LCpl Mendoza as not credible. In his report, he ignored testimony by Sgt Dela Cruz in that case altogether.

Regarding Nat Helms, his reporting has been more accurate than the mainstream media's. But if you need corroboration from the MSM, see my link above. The Washington Post made a similar assessment about Dela Cruz.

[jazusamo]

LOL!

[Maelstorm]

I don’t really care why they got out of the vehicle. All I care is whether it was reasonable for our soldiers given their state of mind after the IED attack to fear for their lives and expect the real possibility of attack from the individuals exiting the vehicle. I think any reasonable person would have to answer yes to that question. War should not have such a high standard that our soldiers should have to second guess themselves in the response to the aftermath of an attack.

It is horrible that civilians get killed in war or in police actions but the expectation of absolute infallibility is not only unrealistic but betrays a level of naiveté only suited for the mind of a child. If a soldier commits a crime prosecute them but do not prosecute them for reacting as soldiers must.

[HardStarboard]

Any way to arrange for Vokey to cross examine Murtha?

Nothing could be finer than seeing a burly Marine Sgt. frog marching Murtha to the brig!

[Girlene]

Good info on Dela Cruz's testimony. This is the first I've seen that Dela Cruz failed a polygraph. It would be even more interesting to know what version he was telling about the sedan incident when he failed it.

The Washington Post article is quite revealing about Dela Cruz's testimony, as is the New York Times article, "At Marines’ Hearing, Testament to Violence".

[snip] Sergeant Dela Cruz has admitted to lying to an Army colonel who initially investigated the Haditha episode, in which Marine riflemen killed 24 Iraqis, including at least 10 women and children, after a roadside bomb killed one of their comrades.

In a sworn statement, he told the colonel that Iraqi Army soldiers traveling with his unit had killed the five men near the car, and that he had yelled at them to stop, to no avail.

Now Dela Cruz says that Frank told him to lie about the incident and blame it on the Iraqi Army. It sounds like Dela Cruz may have been the one who originally made this story up. According to other testimony on Friday,

Another witness on Friday, Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner, a member of a Marine intelligence unit that inspected the scene of the Haditha killings, said Sergeant Wuterich had told him the men had run from the car when they were shot.

Sergeant Laughner also said squad members had been worried that the car could have been carrying a bomb.