Marine sniper defends his actions [Hearing for Sgt John Winnick concludes]

A Marine sniper charged with two counts of manslaughter in the shooting deaths of two men he suspected of planting a roadside bomb in Iraq said Wednesday that he was doing his best to protect his troops.

"I did this action in defense of my Marines," Sgt. John "Johnny" Winnick II said at the conclusion of an investigative hearing that will help determine if the charges against him stand.

Winnick, 24, a veteran of four Iraq deployments, said he decided to shoot when he suspected the men were about to place a bomb near an intersection about a mile from a Marine outpost in the Anbar province.

Winnick said he had seen too many Marines killed and injured by roadside bombs and acted to protect his fellow service members.

"I didn't want them to end up like other Marines I have seen," the 2002 graduate of Del Mar's Winston High School said in a clear, calm voice.

Winnick faces as much as 40 years in prison if tried and convicted of the two counts of manslaughter, assault and failure to follow the military's rules of engagement.

Winnick headed a sniper team that was watching an intersection near an outpost on June 17, an area that had been his with two roadside bomb attacks. As he and his five men watched, two vehicles stopped and the men inside appeared to be preparing the surface of the roadway for a bomb, according to testimony during the two-day hearing.

A short time after those vehicles departed, an 18-wheel semi-truck stopped in the same spot. The driver got out, according to testimony, crawled under the truck and appeared to be preparing to place a jug on the roadway. At that point, Winnick fired at the man, killing him. His men also began firing at the truck and three other men who emerged from its two-seat cab.

As Winnick and another Marine from his squad ran up to the truck, a second man who had been shot was crawling toward a cell phone, prompting Winnick to fatally wound him with a shotgun blast, according to the undisputed testimony.

A subsequent search of the truck that appeared to be carrying soft drinks did not turn up any weapons or any bomb-making material. Testimony showed that the truck disappeared from the site within a day and was never fully searched.

Winnick was subsequently accused of failing to adhere to the military's rules of engagement when he decided to open fire.

Much of the hearing focused on confusion about those rules with Winnick's platoon commander, Lt. Dominic Corabi, testifying Monday that about a general confusion over their meaning.

Capt. Oliver Dreger, the intelligence officer for Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment that included Winnick's platoon, testified Wednesday that the failure to secure the truck for a full-scale search left a hole in the investigation.

"It would have been nice to know precisely what was in the back of that truck," Dreger said.

Dreger said roadside bombs in the area were considered a "significant threat" and that the types of jugs Winnick reported seeing were increasingly being employed by insurgents to transport chemical compounds for roadside bombs.

But Dreger also testified under questioning from the prosecutor, Capt. Nicholas Gannon, that he was disappointed in Winnick's decision to shoot rather than call for help.

"I would have preferred he call the (quick reaction force) as it didn't appear to be an immediate threat," he said.

The Marine officer presiding over the hearing, Capt. Jeffrey King, asked Dreger of his overall view of Winnick's actions.

"I think he was acting honestly out there and trying to do the right thing," Dreger responded.

King will write a report to Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East and the convening authority over the case, stating whether he believes there is sufficient evidence to warrant ordering Winnick to court-martial. King has the option of also stating whether he believes the evidence would likely result in a conviction if the case went to trial.

During his unsworn statement Wednesday morning, Winnick said he appreciated the legal review the shootings are undergoing.

"I understand it has to go forward in the name of justice, but sir, I am eager to get back in the fight and serve my country," he said.

No one is disputing what happened on the day of the shootings. The only thing at issue, they agreed, is whether Winnick's actions constituted a crime or was a lawful response to a perceived threat.

More reporting from Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times, Accused of manslaughter, Marine says he's eager to return to Iraq Snipped from the article:

......."A cursory investigation after the shooting discovered no bomb and no weapons either on the four men or in their truck. The truck disappeared a day after the June 17, 2007, incident, before Marines could conduct a more thorough search, a point Winnick's defense attorneys have stressed.

Winnick killed one man from several hundred yards away with a rifle shot. Then, as Marines rushed toward the truck, he killed another with a close-in blast from a shotgun as the man was crawling toward a cellphone".......

But Capt. Oliver Dreger, an intelligence officer whose assignment was to oversee Winnick and other snipers, said he believed Winnick acted too quickly and without sufficient information to conclude that the men were showing "hostile intent."

"I wasn't pleased with the judgment exercised by Sgt. Winnick," said Dreger, who order Winnick relieved of duty the day after the incident.

Dreger said that a Marine has to be "pretty damn sure" before firing at a target and has to realize "that decision will be scrutinized by outsiders."

But under tough questioning by Winnick's attorney, Gary Myers, Dreger conceded that there is a subjective element to determining "hostile intent" and "positive identification," phrases contained in the official rules of engagement.

Myers suggested that Dreger, who was questioned as part of the investigation into the 2005 killing of 24 civilians in Haditha, was thinking of his own career by immediately relieving Winnick.

"The first thing you did and your battalion commander did was to get as far away from these Marines as possible," Myers said, an accusation Dreger denied.".......

I was hoping to get a copy of Sgt Winnick's unsworn statement, but he just spoke his mind and didn't read from a prepared statement. So we'll have to wait to get a transcript before reading the whole thing.

The defense team didn't make a summation, but they did send the message below that I posted on Defend Our Marines...

Statement from defense attorney, Dan Conway...

"Through four combat deployments, one combat meritorious promotion to corporal, and countless engagements with the enemy, Sgt Winnick earned a reputation as one of the best.

"We're confident that after reviewing the evidence, the Marine Corps will do the right thing and dismiss the charges. Despite all that Sgt Winnick has been through with the uncertainty of the legal process, he loves the Marine Corps and is eager to get back to sharing the wisdom of four deployments with his Marines."

Gary Myers and Dan Conway did a tremendous job.

I agree totally! And in such a short time. Red, these charges should never have been made against Sgt. Winnick. Here's more from San Diego Union Tribune, Defense presented in killings of 2 Iraqis

--------Pretrial hearing held for Marine By Rick Rogers

CAMP PENDLETON – Murky rules of engagement caused Sgt. John Winnick II and his team of Marine snipers to kill two civilians and wound two others about a year ago in Iraq, his attorneys said yesterday during a hearing at Camp Pendleton.

Winnick, 24, is accused of shooting in haste and ordering his men to do the same. He is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and failure to obey orders or regulations. If convicted, he could be imprisoned for 40 years and receive a dishonorable discharge.

Four members of the sniper group have received formal reprimands for their actions June 17, 2007, near Lake Tharthar in western Iraq. Winnick, a San Diego native who graduated from The Winston School in Del Mar in 2002, was on his fourth combat tour when the shootings occurred.

On that day, Winnick and five other members of the sniper team staked out a highway intersection where insurgents were known to plant roadside bombs, Sgt. Alex Wazenkewitz, a member of the group, testified yesterday.

At one point, Wazenkewitz said, a car stopped and a man got out and “messed with the ground” before leaving. A short time later, another vehicle stopped on the side of the road opposite from where the first car had parked, he said.

After the second vehicle left, a big rig stopped in the same vicinity. A man came out and appeared to take a satchel from the truck.

“We are thinking: 'This is coordinated. They are probably going to (plant) an improvised explosive device,' ” Wazenkewitz testified.

Winnick shot the man near the truck with his sniper rifle, grabbed a shotgun to lead his team's assault on the big rig and fired more rounds, Wazenkewitz said.

One man died from a shot to the head, a second was shot in the stomach and a third suffered some type of wound, Wazenkewitz testified.

“This (one) guy had like an evil smirk on his face and was kissing his fingers and pointing at us and pointing to the sky. He was taunting us,” Wazenkewitz recalled.

Winnick took notes during the hearing. Friends and six of his family members sat in the front row of the courtroom, while Marines supporting him filled most of the other seats and overflowed into the waiting room.

Lt. Steven Chamales, who led the quick-reaction force that aided Winnick's team, testified that he searched the big rig's cab and the ground around it and found nothing related to bomb-making.

“My concern is that I did not see anything worth shooting over,” Chamales said. “I saw no ordnance. I saw no ammo. I saw no weapons. I saw no digging materials, no homemade explosives.”

No one searched the trailer, which appeared to be full of 2-liter bottles of soda, he said.

Cpl. Justin Governale testified to seeing a wounded man crawling toward a cell phone before Winnick killed him with a shotgun blast. Governale said he thought the man was trying to detonate a bomb.

“As soon as I heard the discharge of the weapon, I felt relieved because I had thought I was going to get blown up. . . . If I was in (Winnick's) shoes, I would have shot, I can tell you that for sure,” Governale said.

Lt. Dominic Corabi, Winnick's platoon commander in Iraq, testified that even senior officers couldn't agree on when a Marine could use deadly force. Corabi said he disregarded the advice of his battalion's executive officer and followed the guidance of the unit's lawyer, who said Marines should use lethal force if they deem it necessary.

He also said Capt. Oliver Dreger once reminded his fellow Marines, “Hey, guys, remember the Marine Corps will eat its young.” Dreger is scheduled to take the stand today.

“The general consensus was that if you took a shot, there was going to be a big investigation,” Corabi testified. “I said (to snipers) to basically 'do your best. Make these decisions as best you can, and I will support you.' ”

Capt. Jeffrey King, who is overseeing Winnick's Article 32 session, will recommend to Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the convening authority in the case, whether Winnick should go to trial. --------

Genuine Marine officers of old would have given the Marines under their command every last benefit of the doubt.

After our church service tonight, I spoke with a member, an old Marine who pulled embassy duty in Tehran during the Shah's time. He was sickened by this.

He told of one of their Marines on guard duty at night who had a man pop up in a secure area. He was ordered to halt and didn't. His Marine put a hole in the infiltrator, and it was the last infiltrating the man ever did.

My friend said that they had that Marine a set of orders and a carry-on meal the next morning. He was out of country in less than a day.

In short, they protected him.

Today, he'd be up on murder charges because quivering administrators don't know the difference between "leadership" and "management."

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