Marine heads to trial on obstruction charges in Haditha case [Lt Grayson court martial]

Associated Press via Mercury News ^ | May 28, 2008 | Chelsea J. Carter

[RedRover]

SAN DIEGO—A Marine intelligence officer heads to court Wednesday to answer charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements during an investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqis.

The court-martial of 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson is the first case to come to trial in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war.

Authorities maintain eight Marines killed the Iraqis shortly after a roadside bomb hit a convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two Marines.

Grayson of Springboro, Ohio, was not present at the scene of the killings on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha, but is accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera.

Investigators allege after the bombing, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and a squad member allegedly shot five men by a car at the scene. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his men into several houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing unarmed civilians in the process.

Charges against all but three Marines, including Grayson, have been dropped.

[bigheadfred]

Mattis not testifying at the request of the Defense, but there later at the request of the prostitution says it all.

And no, I’ve never had a conversation with the man, and he has never given me any advice , nor would I EVEN ask for it, to reach this conclusion.

[Girlene]

But why didn’t the investigators know? Why didn’t the prosecutors know?

Worse, why did Gen Mattis charge this man when Mattis knew the rules perfectly well?

I agree. Laughner was trying to make it sound like the photographs were destroyed in February, right before Col. Watt came calling. According to Dinsmore's testimony, Grayson said the photos were destroyed by late December or earlier. Two other officers testified they told Laughner to destroy the photos soon after the incident.

Gen. Mattis made a big point about doing all his own background reading of the reports himself, etc. He claimed he wasn't influenced by media coverage because he doesn't even own a TV. In summary he claimed to have done his work.

Amd yet somehow, Gen. Mattis missed/ignored some major facts and decided to charge 1st Lt. Grayson.

[xzins]

Amd yet somehow, Gen. Mattis missed/ignored some major facts and decided to charge 1st Lt. Grayson.

He knew the "old man" needed a show trial.

[Girlene]

Kasprzyk dropped the charge because prosecutors failed to allege that Grayson knew the Haditha case was the subject of a criminal investigation when he allegedly tried to obstruct justice.

Amazing. In my post 178, that's exactly what I was wondering. It didn't amount to obstruction when Grayson didn't know Haditha was the subject of a criminal investigation.

If Girlene can figure this out years later after only a few of the investigators' statements have been posted, why couldn't Gen. Mattis who had EVERYTHING at his fingertips from day one? Thank goodness the judge did!

[bigheadfred]

Amazing

Girlene can figure this out

Thank goodness

Just kidding. ;-)

[Girlene]

[bigheadfred]

[RedRover]

Government screwed up, wants heroic lieutenant to go to jail, David Allender, Defend Our Marines, June 3, 2008

In a Camp Pendleton courtroom today, we finally learned the details behind Lieutenant Andrew Grayson's alleged fraudulent attempt to leave the Marine Corps.

Lt Grayson is one of three remaining defendants in the Haditha case. His court martial will end tomorrow with closing arguments. A verdict from the seven-member panel is expected by the end of the day.

The key witness was Lt Grayson's first military-appointed lawyer, Major (now lieutenant colonel) Kevin Woodard. He advised Grayson throughout his separation process.

On the witness stand, Woodard was asked, "What did you do when you found out that Lt Grayson was not on legal hold?"

The reply was "nothing". Woodard checked with his superiors and was told that neither he nor Lt Grayson were under any ethical or legal obligation to inform the government that it had made an error by not placing the lieutenant on legal hold, which would have halted the separation process.

In Woodard's view, the government had screwed up and he couldn't believe the government had made that kind of mistake. He told Lt Grayson to be honest in the separation process, to never use his rank to influence the process, and that he had no obligation to tell anyone that there were charges hanging over him.

Lt Grayson checked with Woodard a final time before picking up his DD214 and was told to proceed.

The charge against Lt Grayson is worded in a way that may spell trouble for the lieutenant. The second specification reads that he "did attempt to fraudulently attempt to procure his own separation from the United States Marine Corps by knowingly concealing he was not eligible for discharge."

A decision will soon be in the hands of the Marine officers on the panel.

Panel members heard numerous testimony today that Lt Grayson has served his country with the utmost distinction.

The most moving testimony came from Major Samuel H. Carrasco, operations officer for the Third Battalion. He testified that Lt Grayson's extraordinary work as an intelligence officer saved Major Carrasco the painful task of writing hundreds of families that their child had been killed in action.

Other witnesses today included NCIS Special Agent Patrick Lim. Through an examination of SSgt Justin Laughner's computer, he corroborated Lt Grayson's claim that he had never been shown the photographs as Laughner had claimed. SA Lim was able to be discover the dates the files had been accessed, and none matched the dates that Laughner claimed he had shown the photographs to Lt Grayson.

[4woodenboats]

Other witnesses today included NCIS Special Agent Patrick Lim. Through an examination of SSgt Justin Laughner's computer, he corroborated Lt Grayson's claim that he had never been shown the photographs as Laughner had claimed. SA Lim was able to be discover the dates the files had been accessed, and none matched the dates that Laughner claimed he had shown the photographs to Lt Grayson.

The government's star witness pujures himself yet again.

[RedRover]

There hasn’t been a government witness yet who’s been worth a damn as a human being.

[Girlene]

WOW!!!! Grayson's own military appointed lawyer advised him during his seperation process, asked for advice from his superiors, and gave a final approval before he was granted seperation??!!!! What the heck was going on with the prosecution to throw this charge in?

The second specification reads that he "did attempt to fraudulently attempt to procure his own separation from the United States Marine Corps by knowingly concealing he was not eligible for discharge."

Well the prosecutors better charge his military lawyer while they're at it since he just admitted to knowing and advising Grayson all along the way. SHEESH.

Other witnesses today included NCIS Special Agent Patrick Lim. Through an examination of SSgt Justin Laughner's computer, he corroborated Lt Grayson's claim that he had never been shown the photographs as Laughner had claimed. SA Lim was able to be discover the dates the files had been accessed, and none matched the dates that Laughner claimed he had shown the photographs to Lt Grayson.

WOW, again! Awesome news. Why was he ever charged? Gen. Mattis has some 'splainin' to do. The buck stopped with him. This whole thing was NONSENSE.

1st Lt. Grayson should be easily exonerated tomorrrow. Congratulations! Thanks, Red for your tireless efforts throughout all these hearings/trial. Great job!

[Girlene]

Gen. Mattis has some 'splainin' to do. The buck stopped with him.

Whoops, my bad. It was Gen. Helland, wasn't it? My apologies for questioning Gen. Mattis on THIS one.

[RedRover]

By the by, LtCol Woodard represented one of the captains in the MARSOC inquiry.

Catch you all tomorrow!

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for the update!

It still boggles my mind that this bogus charge of fraudulently separating from the Marine Corps (which has treated Lt. Grayson so well... yeah... Semper Fidelis) is part of the “Haditha” kangaroo parade.

[RedRover]

Yep, it was Helland. The separation charge was added when the case was ordered to court martial in Dec of last year. There was no Article 32 for that charge.

[jazusamo]

Let’s hope the wording doesn’t raise a problem for Lt Grayson. When you have a Marine attorney advising you I don’t see how they can hang you for that, especially when he was told it wasn’t a problem.

As far as Laughner lying again, it’s not surprising.

Hopefully it will all be over for Lt Grayson by this time tomorrow night.

[Lancey Howard]

Yes, Helland was the convening authority for this mess.
I wouldn’t offer Mattis any apologies, though.

[bigheadfred]

I'm always reluctant to talk about legal issues since I'm not a lawyer.

Lt Grayson's first military-appointed lawyer advised him

See Red? Now you know why I have no worries talking about legal issues.

did attempt to fraudulently attempt

WTF???? How do you attempt to attempt? I don't know if that even qualifies as a passing thought.

[SeaHawkFan]

He is a very interesting link that demonstrates why one should NEVER, EVER talk to the police. What all three parts. It is both highly informative, and very entertaining.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rVq6N0xAEEM

[SeaHawkFan]

I'm wondering if the only reason the judge didn't throw the rest of charges out is that he can't wait to hear the prosecution explain the whopper about handing Grayson his discharge papers and then filing charges against him for signing them.

That and TDY in San Diego this time of year is great duty. ;-)