Posted on 05/28/2008 3:33:36 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Girlene, if you take talk radio and PBS TV audience size, you really don’t hit that many Americans at all. If you cut that down just to Americans who are also in the military, then you reduce that by a huge amount. And if you restrict it to only the Marines, who’ve been continually deployed for the last 5 years, then that’s even fewer who view or listen to those programs.
On the other hand, every single Marine was intentionally briefed by order of the commandant. The example that brought this about was what was called at the time, “The Massacre at Haditha.”
TV news is still wrongly reporting Haditha. Even this article does.
There is no doubt in my mind that these potential jurors will enter this case with misinformation that prejudices them against Lt Grayson.
xzins, you make very valid points about prejudicial information the panel members have been exposed to, but I’m sticking with my positive spin.
Assuming we know most the facts of the case, the panel has everything it needs to acquit 1st Lt. Grayson. He was following protocol to have photos of dead Iraqis deleted once it was determined there was no intelligence value. Two other officers had previously ordered these photos deleted. As far as the lying charge, at the time he was asked, there were no photos. They’d been deleted. Unless the prosecution has audio/video tape of Grayson claiming none were ever taken (and we know they never tape anything), I don’t know how they can say he was lying.
Lt Grayson Court Martial | Day One | May 28, Wednesday
Jury selection is complete, the day ended with seven jurors empanelled.
During jury selection, prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Paul Atterbury asked prospective jurors if they had read about the case on NewsMax or in articles by Nat Helms. None said they had. (Interestingly, no one was asked if they read Time magazine.)
The jurors are all higher ranks than Lieutenant Grayson—a colonel, four lieutenant colonels, a major and a captain.
Tomorrow starts opening statements.
Lieutenant Grayson has his wife and family on hand to lend support. I can only imagine their fear when the judge announced that the charges (three false official statements, two obstructing justice and two attempted fraudulent discharge) added up to a possible 30 years confinement.
There are expected to be some 34 witnesses called and the case is supposed to conclude by the end of next Tuesday.
Colonel Gregory Watt (of the Watt Investigation) is on the witness list and is scheduled to appear. So is Major Jeffrey Dinsmore and other 3/1 Marines who ordered Staff Sergeant Laughner to delete his photographs. I can't help but recall the words of the Investigating Officer at Lieutenant Grayson's Article 32 who noted, "I would have expected everyone in that battalion would have been charged and obviously that didn't happen."
I will pray a rosary later on today for him and his family.
Prosecutor says Marine covered up Iraqi civilian killings, Chelsea Carter, Associated Press, May 29, 2008
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A Marine intelligence officer lied to investigators to help cover up a squad's killings of 24 Iraqis, including women and children, a prosecutor said Thursday during opening statements in the officer's court-martial.
First Lt. Andrew Grayson is the first of three defendants in the Haditha, Iraq, killings to go to trial.
The prosecutor, Lt. Col. Paul H. Atterbury, also told the jury of seven officers there are key undisputed facts in the case: A roadside bomb killed a Marine and wounded two others and two hours later the squad's actions resulted in the deaths of the 24 Iraqis.
Authorities maintain four Marines killed the Iraqis shortly after the roadside bomb hit a convoy. Four commissioned officers had faced charges of failing to investigate or covering up the incident.
After the bombing, investigators say, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and a squad member shot five men by a car at the scene. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his squad into several houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing unarmed civilians.
Grayson, who was not at the scene of the Nov. 19, 2005, killings, is accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera.
Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Charges were dropped against five of them but remain against Grayson, Wuterich and a third Marine.
Grayson says he did nothing wrong. He rejected a plea deal under which his charges would have been dismissed in exchange for an admission that he covered up the killings, his attorney has said.
Jury selection concluded Wednesday after prosecutors and defense attorneys questioned potential jurors over their knowledge of the case based on news reports.
Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, is charged with two counts of making false official statements, two counts of trying to fraudulently separate from service, and one count each of attempt to deceive by making false statements and obstruction of justice by trying to impede an investigation.
If convicted of all charges, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and dismissal from the Marines.
Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., faces voluntary manslaughter and other charges. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani of Rangely, Colo., is charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations he mishandled the aftermath of the shooting deaths.
Chessani was a battalion commander.
Defense says Marine was 'fall guy' in Haditha case, Chelsea Carter, Associated Press, May 29, 2008
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A Marine intelligence officer was alternately portrayed at his court-martial Thursday as a liar who helped cover up the killings of 24 Iraqi men, women and children and the "fall guy" for a botched investigation.
Lt. Col. Paul H. Atterbury, the prosecutor, said in his opening statement that Lt. Andrew Grayson lied to investigators to help cover up the Nov. 19, 2005, killings in the Iraqi city of Haditha. But Grayson's defense attorney said the officer had no motive to lie about the killings because he wasn't there when they happened.
"Lieutenant Grayson is nothing more than a fall guy in a botched investigation under intense media pressure," Maj. William A. Santmyer told the jury of seven officers.
Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, is the first of the three remaining defendants in the case to go to trial. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and dismissal from the Marine Corps, if found guilty of all charges.
Atterbury told jurors there are key undisputed facts in the case: A roadside bomb killed a Marine and wounded two others and two hours later the squad's actions resulted in the deaths of the 24 men, women and children.
Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder, though charges were later dropped against three and reduced for the fourth, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. In addition, four commissioned officers were accused of failing to investigate or covering up the incident, but charges remain against only two: Grayson and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.
After the bombing, investigators say, Wuterich and a squad member shot five men by a car at the scene. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his squad into several houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing unarmed civilians.
Grayson was not present at the scene of the killings but is accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera.
Santmyer said the only connection between Grayson and the Haditha case were pictures.
"What the evidence will not show and what the government will not be able to show is a motive for the misconduct Grayson is alleged to have committed," he said.
Grayson is charged with two counts of making false official statements, two counts of trying to fraudulently separate from service, and one count each of attempt to deceive by making false statements and obstruction of justice by trying to impede an investigation.
Grayson, who says he did nothing wrong, rejected a plea deal under which his charges would have been dismissed in exchange for an admission that he covered up the killings, his attorney has said.
Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., faces voluntary manslaughter and other charges. Chessani, of Rangely, Colo., is charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations he mishandled the aftermath of the shooting deaths. Chessani was a battalion commander.
That's because no one in their right mind would admit that publicly.
Thanks for the update.
Thanks for continuing to post updates, Red.
That's not good, is it? If all or most of these officers are political whores looking for a promotion, and believe that throwing a lower-ranking Marine under the bus "for the good of the Corps" - - and to appease the liberal press - - will ingratiate them to scumbags like Winter and Murtha, Lt. Grayson could be screwed.
Thanks so much, fatima!
As a rule, Marine juries have shown better sense than prosecutors. Hope this won’t be an exception (it’s the first high-profile case involving an officer and the first all-officer jury).
I want the best for Lt Grayson. That said, it’s best to plan a bold offense and a worst case defense.
Hey, look on the bright side. At least the jury isn’t all Generals. We already know how they have voted.
And if you tell me Generals don’t sit on panels, yah, well, someone has to run the puppet strings.
I hope you’re right. I would still feel a lot better if the panel could be infantry sergeants.
Why is it that Carter’s AP article for the Defense spends most of its space saying what Carter’s AP article for the Prosecution said, and saying it in the same way, and saying it with an anti-Grayson/Haditha slant?
I don’t trust the media whores. I despise them. The earth would be a better place with them not on it.
Now that I’ve vented :>)
The defense says that the prosecution can’t prove motive. We have a lieutenant who wasn’t even part of the action in Haditha. Repeat: He was NOT EVEN THERE. We have a lieutenant who ordered a SSG to remove illegal, prurient-interest death photos from his computer. We have senior NCOs who had much earlier ordered the same SSG to remove those illegal photos. It is against military regulations to keep photos of the war dead for prurient reasons. The NCOs & the Lieutenant knew there was no intelligence value to those photos. LtGrayson was correct to require the destruction of illegal material.
In a totally separate case, the Marines, based on no action on Lt Grayson’s part, sent the Lieutenant discharge papers. Therefore, he began the process to get out of the Marines. Someone got upset that he took the paperwork seriously, so they are saying LtGrayson was trying fraudulently to exit the Marines even though the Marines initiated this action and Grayson did not. This did not happen in Iraq. It did not happen in Haditha. But, somehow, the discharge incident became part of what had happened in Haditha months earlier in the minds of the prosecutors.
In another side issue, the prosecution also found LtGrayson had gone 11 miles an hour over the speed limit nine times as a teen, and that he’d failed twice to wear a seat belt. Prosecutors insist that these are intimately related to their Haditha case and want them also to be a part of the case. /sarcasm.
Likewise.
You’re welcome, jaz. Hopefully, there will be some good news in an update very soon!
LOL!!! Bet there’s more skeletons in the closet like overdue library books if they keep digging!
Doesn’t it increase Grayson’s chances for appeal if they include charges unrelated to the alleged offense he committed?
I would think so. The defense filed a motion to sever the Attempted Fraudulent Discharge case from the Haditha charges because they are unrelated and prejudicial. The motion was denied, but the defense did put done a marker for an appeal.
Reminds of the line(s) from Apocalypse Now: "The horror, the horror"
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