Wow, the resemblance is striking! ;)
Posted on 06/18/2008 7:22:37 PM PDT by RedRover
CAMP PENDELTON ---- The Marine Corps is appealing a judge's ruling dismissing dereliction of duty charges against a battalion commander accused of failing to investigate the 2005 shooting deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians.
On Tuesday, Col. Steven Folsom, presiding as the military judge over the case against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, ordered the charges dismissed after finding that a general was improperly influenced by a legal adviser who also is a witness in the case.
The watershed ruling found that the legal adviser, Col. John Ewers, should not have sat in on meetings and discussions with two generals who have overseen the case. That degree of participation by Ewers, who also investigated the killings in the city of Haditha, Iraq, irreparably tainted the decision to charge and prosecute Chessani, Folsum ruled.
The notice of appeal delays the case indefinitely. The appeal document was signed by the lead prosecutor in the case, Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan, and sent to Chessani's attorneys late Wednesday.
Prosecutors had until Friday morning to decide if they would appeal. If they hadn't and also decided against seeking a review of the accusations against Chessani, this time by a Marine officer with no ties to the case, the ruling would have left only Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich still facing charges.
One of those attorneys, Brian Rooney, said the appeal wasn't entirely surprising.
"In our opinion, the ruling is appeal-proof," Rooney said Wednesday during a telephone interview. "He spent a lot time saying why he ruled the way he did, citing numerous instances of case law to back up his opinion."
The appeal goes to the Navy and Marine Court of Criminal Appeals. Prosecutors have 20 days to write their arguments and provide them to the defense, which has 20 days from receipt of that document to respond.
Folsom's rationale, Rooney said, included a finding that prosecutors failed to meet the required proof beyond a reasonable doubt that command influence didn't harm Chessani.
"The court can only overturn the ruling if it's clearly erroneous, and the evidence is clear that it isn't," he said.
The appeals court is not under any time constraint to issue its finding. Whichever way it does rule can be further challenged before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
"We feel very good about our chances," Rooney said. "The unfortunate thing is that Col. Chessani has to continue to sit behind a desk for an indefinite amount of time while it's decided. I would have hoped someone would have looked at Judge Folsom's ruling and said, 'Enough is enough, let this Marine retire.'"
Gary Solis, a former Marine attorney who teaches military law at Washington's Georgetown University, said he was surprised by Folsom's ruling but understood the perception problem presented by Ewers' participation in the closed-door meetings.
"Military justice cannot afford even the perception that the government has its fingers on the scales of justice," Solis said in a written response to questions.
Chessani, 44, commanded Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at Haditha. The two dozen Iraqi noncombatants were shot by a squad from the regiment's Kilo Company as it searched houses for those responsible for a roadside bombing and subsequent small arms fire the morning of Nov. 19, 2005.
Eight Marines, four enlisted men and four officers, were charged with wrongdoing. One officer has since been acquitted at trial while charges have been dismissed or withdrawn for five other accused troops.
I’m in favor of whatever the defense attorneys want regarding the trial timelines.
I think Rooney has signaled that he wants this over now, so I assume they have all their defensive plans in place and ready to go.
I’m not sure about Wuterich’s attorney.
In football, if you run out of downs, you punt. I see the prosecutors doing a lot of punting.
Wow, the resemblance is striking! ;)
So now the good colonel has to sit at a desk while a bunch of dick heads try to screw him yet again.
Meanwhile...
House Democrats Call for Nationalization of Refineries
foxnews.com | June 18, 2008
Posted on 06/18/2008 7:31:24 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033142/posts
Bit of a mare's nest. Nat would probably know the reporting relationships but he's out in the Ozark outback, spearing fish and drinking beer all this week.
Thing is, too, that the prosecution could lose the appeal and STILL refile charges.
LtCol Chessani’s lawyers are choosing to fight before the case goes to court martial. Chessani may end up wishing they had just gone to court.
I’m betting he uses quarter sticks.
Maybe on the end of a spear.....
:>)
Savage bump!
Regarding dragging this out, I figure that the prosecutors are hoping to be out of the service before this goes to trial.
a)65 NCIS agents assigned to one case,
b)3 letters of censure publicly handed out before any discovery on the media's charges of cover up had been made,
c)No efforts made to correct the "24 civilians" misnomer when the Marine Corps knew that 8 of the dead were insurgents, and
d)What connection did Winter have with Rumsfield's purported shadow group set up to disseminate classified reports to the media in an attempt to insulate the DoD from a squad of "rogue" Marines?
I've stuck by my president through thick and thin, but the only logical answer to the above is the unfortunate term "Bush Knew", and suddenly I'm feeling very sticky and in need of a very long shower.
Hopefully, they’ll be pictures!
The scumbags will cry, "coverup!".... no matter what happens.
Bush should have "intervened" long ago and simply cited, clearly and concisely, the facts of the case, including,
1. In November, 2005, terrorist insurgents ambushed a Marine convoy and killed LCpl Texiera (oh yeah, remember him?) and seriously injured several other Marines. These cowardly terrorists then took refuge in nearby houses, using Iraqi civilians as human shields.
2. The Marines immediately responded to the ambush as they were trained to do, and defended themselves in accordance with the rules of engagement and the laws of war. Several civilians who served as human shields for the terrorists were tragically killed in the ensuing battle. The terrorists, along with five apparent collaborators who suspiciously arrived at the ambush scene in a white sedan, and who matched the description in an intel advisory warning of a white sedan full of insurgent terrorists, were also killed.
3. Legal proceedings were initiated and charges were brought against eight heroic Marines only as the result of a successful propaganda effort pulled off by by insurgent agents who used a naive reporter to plant a false story in TIME Magazine, and the unfortunate over-reaction of several commanders (who decided to try to appease the liberal press rather than defend their own heroic warriors).
"Today I have ordered the immediate dismissal of all charges against the eight Marines and the complete clearing of their records, and I have also ordered full restitution of expenses and legal fees accrued by the falsely accused Marines. Thank you."
My understanding is that Marine CentCom can file this appeal, and then if not satisfied, they can appeal to the highest Military Court of Appeals.
If they lose that, it’s all over for them.
Folsum, in essence, ruled that so far as Marine CentCom is concerned the refiling is with prejudice toward Marine CentCom.
Someone else would have to refile. I assume that means that someone at USMC or USCentcom or SecNav or DoD would be so incensed about this that they’d independently take up the ball and go refile on their own.
That doesn’t mean that Marine CentCom can’t prod them behind the scenes, but my understanding is that they cannot be involved in any refiling.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
Check it out where? Get it to me and I’ll post it.
That’s an excellent post. I saw it after I posted my own summary:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2033138/posts?page=133#133
Bush may be the biggest disappointment in this whole travesty, if you don’t count the vile kicks to the stomach delivered to “esprit de corps” and “Semper Fidelis” by the rest of the cowardly military and civilian commanders all the way up the chain of command.
Trying to get clarification.
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.