Posted on 08/19/2010 7:22:48 PM PDT by jazusamo
Blagojevich is a grasping Illinois politician with a bouffant hairdo prone to blabbing. Wuterich is a hardcore, quiet Marine who wears his hair high and tight. Both however are charged with crimes simple in name and so complex in character it is hard to understand exactly what crimes they are charged with committing, much less why.
The notion comes, from all places, a New York Times report about jurors being confused about what the defendant was charged with, how to determine his guilt, and exactly what the erstwhile governor’s motives were. According to today's electronic Times, “Jurors said it took them several days just to figure out how to begin to break down their assignment into manageable tasks — not to mention how to understand the legal terminology… “
It sounded familiar. Wuterich has at various times been charged with a variety of heinous crimes. Originally he was charged with murder, lying, and conspiring to cover up the incident. It seems useful to list them as the Marine Corps made them on Dec. 21, 2006…. And no, “2006” is not a typo!
Charge I: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 118 (Unpremeditated murder) (Maximum punishment: such punishment other than death as a court-martial may direct. [Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, confinement for life])
Specification 1: did murder Ahmed Khutar Musleh, also known as Ahmed Fenr Muselh.
Specification 2: did murder Wagdi Aida Alzawi, also known as Wgedi Aida Abd.
Specification 3: did murder Kaled Aida Alzawi, also known as Kaled Aida Abd.
Specification 4: did murder Mohmed Tabal Ahmed, also known as Mohmed Betel Ahmed.
Specification 5: did murder Akram Hamid Flaeh, also known as Akram Hmid Fluih.
Specification 6: did murder Huda Yasin Ahmed.
Specification 7: did murder Aida Yasin Ahmed.
Specification 8: did murder Mohmed Yunis Salim.
Specification 9: did murder Aisha Unes Salim.
Specification 10: did murder Sebea Yunis Salim.
Specification 11: did murder Zainab Unes Salim.
Specification 12: did murder Marwan Aiad Ahmed. (Charge dropped)
Specification 13: did murder six persons inside a house identified as House 1, by disregarding the requirement to have positive identification prior to engaging a target; and participating in clearing House 1 with deadly force without conducting positive identification prior to engaging individuals in House 1.
Charge II: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 134 (Soliciting Another to commit an offense) (Maximum punishment: Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years)
Specification 1: did wrongfully solicit Corporal Dela Cruz to make a false official statement.
Specification 2: did wrongfully solicit Corporal Dela Cruz to make a false official statement.
Charge III: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 107 (False official statement) (Maximum punishment: Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years)
Specification: did with intent to deceive, make a false official statement.
After government prosecutors, led by the same LtCol Sean Sullivan who will prosecute Wuterich on September 13, determined those charges weren’t a good fit they changed them, and then changed them again, degrading the complaints to lesser charges when the motivating malice to commit such terrible deeds failed to materialize. In both cases the government threw the book at them. Cops and prosecutors like to say “we’ll throw everything up against the wall and see what sticks.”
Blagojevich was charged with 24 counts of violating Federal law including trying to sell a Senate seat, conspiring, lying, and performing various other misdeeds apparently so vague the jury could only find him guilty of lying to a Federal investigator. The jury instructions ran more than a hundred pages, and was as “elaborate as some income tax forms,” according to jurors confronted with the case. “And many of the 24 counts they were being asked to consider came in multiple parts and were highly technical and interconnected,” the Times said.
“It was like, ‘Here’s a manual, go fly the space shuttle,'” one of the jurors reportedly said.
The Times determined the “jury’s conclusion came as a surprise to many since prosecutors had long suggested that their evidence would be overwhelming.”
“A lot of it came down to, ‘What was his intent?’ ” one juror said. “You could infer something if you looked at it one way, or not if you looked another.”
The judge decided the jury was so flummoxed by the complexity of the prosecution’s case he declared a mistrial. The Times quoted another juror saying the jury that deliberated for 14 days was “all over the place” trying to decide if Blagojevich was guilty of anything else. Meanwhile millions of dollars and thousands of irreplaceable man hours went up in a puff of smoke.
In Wuterich’s case, the government has already tried seven times – eight times if the co-opted person of Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz is counted – to find somebody guilty of something at the so-called “Haditha Massacre.” Ironically, it is the same event local officials in Haditha, Iraq told North County Times reporter Mark Walker and Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland they call the “Haditha Accident.”
When the gushing city officials told Helland on November 22, 2008 how happy they were with the Marines' intervention, he was still was the convening authority who decided there was enough evidence of wrong-doing to prosecute Wuterich. It still seems very confusing. Meanwhile millions of dollars and thousands of man hours has already gone up in smoke.
Continued at Defend Our Marines
Just reading the charges against him makes me sick.
Also known as? Anyone else sketched out by people who have multiple aliases?
Wow..!
That is one of the best-written articles I ever read.
THANKS for the ping.
I cannot imagine trying to personally witness these trials where cowardly little weasels like Sean Sullivan do their best to try to take down real men, genuine heroes, like the Haditha Marines. The thought makes me throw up in my mouth a little.
Thanks for posting, Lancey.
These three Marines should not be forgotten!
This line still haunts me...
Disregarding the convoluted, latently obtained, divinely reconstructed physical evidence that “proves” Wuterich may or may not have shot anyone...
I can't get that out of my head, it boils the government prosecution down to it's very essence; they're making it all up as they go along, it's loathesome.
Agreed, Smooth. That's what been happening since the charges were filed in December of 2006.
As the hearings progressed it became more and more evident that everyone involved did their jobs as they were trained to do.
The prosecution was defeated time after time and they are down to the last Marine they can pin any wrong doing on.
I don't believe the panel sitting on this courts-martial will find SSgt. Wuterich guilty on any count and will confirm he was doing his job as trained to do.
Haditha never fails to invoke contemplation and sorrow.
In writing his reasons for dropping unpremeditated murder charges against Sharratt, Mattis said that brutality, including the death of innocents, is a part of war.
"The experience of combat is difficult to understand intellectually and very difficult to appreciate emotionally." Mattis wrote. "With the dismissal of these charges LCpl Sharratt may fairly conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat. And as he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law — and in my eyes — innocent."
...........................
Mattis was still a Marine when he wrote that. Since that moment, well, I don't know what Mattis is anymore....
I do know a Marine needs to step forward from the Wuterich panel and say the same thing of Frank, make it final and make it official.
A couple of thoughts:
1. The US Constitution guarantees a speedy trial. It’s not as if this Haditha persecution had a key witness in hiding or something else that would have mitigated justice that prevented its being speedy. It should be dismissed for abuse of Staff Sgt Wutterich’s constitutional rights
2. Next, the UCI is still hanging over this trial.
3. It’s obvious to any observer that the facts do not fit with any crime being committed
In short, it makes sense to drop this and it is nonsense to go on with it.
Well said, xzins.
If the charges are dropped before the courts-martial begins the Marine and JAG Corps could at least take pride in saying they finally did the right thing.
I agree. The best course of action for the Marine Corps is to drop the Wutterich case. There clearly isn’t enough evidence to get a conviction, and there clearly is enough evidence to exhonerate Wutterich.
The Marines could simply acknowledge that fact and finally look like the good guys in this.
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