Posted on 10/04/2007 3:22:21 AM PDT by RedRover
Official recommends Wuterich should be tried for negligent homicide in deaths of two women, five children
CAMP PENDLETON -- A Marine Corps official has recommended that murder charges be dismissed against a Camp Pendleton squad leader accused in the deaths of 17 civilians killed in the Iraqi city of Haditha two years ago.
The official, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, said in a recommendation obtained by the North County Times that rather than face murder charges, squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich should be tried for the lesser offense of negligent homicide in the deaths of five children and two women.
Ware recommended 10 other murder charges against Wuterich be dismissed.
"I believe after reviewing all the evidence that no trier of fact can conclude Staff Sgt. Wuterich formed the criminal intent to kill," Ware wrote in reference to the women and children. "When a Marine fails to exercise due care and civilians die, the charge of negligent homicide, and not murder, is appropriate."
Ware's report, issued to prosecutors and defense attorneys this week, found the evidence against Wuterich contradictory. Ware's role as the case's investigating officer is akin to that of a judge presiding over a pretrial hearing.
"The case against Staff Sgt. Wuterich is simply not strong enough to conclude he committed murder beyond a reasonable doubt," Ware wrote. "Almost all witnesses have an obvious bias or prejudice."
Wuterich's attorneys were reviewing the report and were unavailable. Marine Corps policy dictates that officials and prosecutors do not comment on an investigating officer's findings.
The Haditha incident is one of two civilian killing cases arising out of actions by Camp Pendleton troops in Iraq. It evolved from an initial determination that the deaths were the result of urban warfare into a firestorm that mixed politics with the fog of war and the military's rules of engagement.
Four officers were eventually charged with dereliction of duty at Haditha and four enlisted men charged with murder. Charges have since been dropped for two officers and two enlisted men.
Ware's recommendations are headed to Camp Pendleton's Gen. James Mattis, who will decide what happens to Wuterich. The 27-year-old Connecticut native, whose first combat experience came at Haditha, could face a life sentence in prison if convicted of murder at trial. Negligent homicide carries a maximum three-year prison term.
Mattis can accept or reject Ware's recommendations. The general's power under the military justice system includes authority to drop the case altogether, which he did for two officers and two enlisted men.
The civilian deaths came after Wuterich led his squad in an attack on a group of homes following a roadside bombing that destroyed a Humvee, killing a lance corporal and injuring two Marines.
Five Iraqi men were the first to die when Wuterich shot them shortly after they emerged from a car that drove up immediately after the bombing. Ware recommends the charges in those deaths be dismissed, accepting Wuterich's statement that he believed those men were insurgents taking part in the attack.
The Marine Corps initially reported the Iraqis died in the bombing and subsequent small arms fire. Several weeks later, the military corrected the number of deaths to 24 after questions were raised by a Time magazine reporter who spoke to relatives of the slain Iraqis.
The first media reports resulted in an international outcry, prompting military officials to order a full-scale investigation, which brought on criminal charges.
A decision on whether Wuterich's battalion commander at Haditha, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, will face court-martial on dereliction charges is pending, as is a recommendation that murder charges against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum be dismissed.
Murder charges against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt were dropped after the general found he acted within the rules of engagement. Ware also presided over the hearings for Sharratt and Tatum and recommended their charges be dismissed.
The fourth enlisted man in the case, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, had murder charges against him dropped in April in exchange for his testimony.
Dereliction charges have been dropped against Capts. Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell. A pretrial hearing for 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson is set to begin later this month.
During Wuterich's hearing, which concluded in early September, he told Ware that he regretted the civilian deaths but maintained he and his men acted in response to their training and within the rules of engagement.
"I will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to that attack," Wuterich said. "As a sergeant and a squad leader, I am responsible for the decisions made to employ the tactics we used that day."
Former Marine Corps judge and prosecutor Gary Solis, now a military law professor at Georgetown University, said the outlook for Wuterich is a lot brighter now.
"We are seeing the system at work," Solis said, "and the question now is if he does face trial on negligent homicide, will a jury at Camp Pendleton convict him?"
The Haditha charges came six months after another Camp Pendleton group was charged in the abduction and slaying of an Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania. That case resulted in convictions for seven Marines and a Navy corpsman.
I just can’t figure Murtha out. Does he know how freaking stupid he sounds? “Wolf, I read it in TIME! DUH! Hell-oooo! Who cares about some ‘military investigation’ that’s ongoing? Who cares that I’m an elected official and am supposed to allow the investigative process to go on? Don’t you know who I am? I am an all-knowing hater of this war, which means I don’t need facts, I JUST KNOW!”
I'm not the biggest Charlie Gibson fan, but all he's doing here is trying to nail down FACTS, and Murtha gets all flustered.
By all means, let's not "make excuses for the military" Murtha! That seems to really set him off.
He comes across as a lunatic who's got an axe to grind.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps suggesting that Haditha was murder...even that it was unjustified....and giving it to a Congressman who told the commandant’s opinions to the world is clearly and definitely Command Influence.
Murtha and that Commandant should be called to testify over these allegations.
So far as negligent homicide is concerned, some legal person will have to tell us the exact difference between that and murder.
It sounds like it’s saying there “wasn’t ENOUGH” diligence exercised. Exactly how much “diligence” is POSSIBLE on a battlefield with split second, life-threatening decisions having to be made?
One second worth of diligence? 1/2 second? 1/4...1/8...1/16?
How much “due diligence” will get a man killed, because he exercised too much diligence?
The Marine Corp allowed itself to get steamrolled into having a trial in the first place. Then, after it is proven the Marines were attacked, it continued the charade. Apparently, this many months after the event and the trials (exonerations) that have gone on before, the Marine Corp is still unwilling to let the thing go. Negligent homicide my ass. This prosecutor is despearate to find something that will stick. And, sadly, so is the Marine Corp. I’m retired US Army. But up until now, I have always had a deep and abiding respect for the Marine Corp. It’s leadership is depicable.
Oh, and about Murtha—Thanks, Pennsylvavia, for sending a traitor to the US Senate. The voters that did it no doubt sleep well when they go to bed.
Looks like a lot is going to depend on Mattis.
If he as ever actually been in close combat, he might
be able to judge this more fairly. If the only fighting he’s
done is trying to open a new roll of toilet paper, he may
reject the recommendations and really fry Wuterich.
Anyone who has ever really felt their life threatened knows
that the only “diligent” thing to do is to survive.
General Mattis has been very solidly stand up so far on this issue.
He didn’t get the nicks “Mad Dog Mattis” and “Warrior Monk” by being a Remington Raider.
Semper Fi.
Negligent homicide is the most likely final result. But Mattis may yet exonerate Wuterich entirely.
First we have Murtha convicting the Marines,then Blitzer reads Time magazine for the facts. Time interviewed the victims family members. Were the family members present at the scene? Did the family members actually witness the event? I am beginning to wonder if any man in combat can do his job without being second guessed? If I was told a car bomb was headed my way and a car full of Iraqis headed my way, I would damn sure order my men to shoot first. The surest way to get killed in combat is to wait until the enemy shoots at you first or drives a car full of explosives close ebough to you and your men to blow all of them up.
This was the biggest framejob in Marine Histoir.
Pray for W and Our Marines
The criminal in this whole matter is the Cold Blooded Liar Murtha.
I agree that the commandant at that time, Gen Hagee, should be questioned. But what is Murtha really saying the commandant told him? That it was a “serious incident”? Well, that’s obvious.
If Gen Hagee never told Murtha it was murder, then Murtha has absolutely no grounds to cite military officials as his source.
And Murtha will pay.
SSgt Wuterich’s defamation lawsuit just got a whole lot stronger. We’re expecting that Gen Mattis will dismiss charges against LCpl Tatum soon—maybe today or tomorrow. That will make the case stronger still.
Wonderful.
So the Investigative Officer has reduced the charges from premeditated murder in two houses and the taxi to negligent homicide for the occupants of the second house I presume? Any idea if the three year maximum penalty is a total, or for each alleged negligent homicide?
It now lies with Gen. Mattis to decide whether he wants to go forward. Prayers for the Wuterich family as they await that decision.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.