Posted on 01/28/2012 10:05:54 PM PST by Lancey Howard
For years, the Marine Corps knew its chances of winning a homicide conviction against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich in the slayings of two dozen Iraqi civilians were dicey.
Wuterich, 31, agreed Monday to plead guilty to dereliction of duty in the 2005 incident that sparked worldwide outrage. And that outcome was all the Marine Corps was ever likely to get, the service was told more than four years ago.
That opinion came from Lt. Col. Paul Ware, an experienced Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who presided as the investigative officer over hearings for Wuterich and two members of his Camp Pendleton squad.
The fact that the prosecution ultimately agreed to a plea of negligent dereliction of duty still leaves many scratching their heads: How did the Marine Corps ---- which originally charged Wuterich and three other enlisted men with murder, and four battalion officers with crimes tied to failing to investigate the incident ---- achieve only one minor conviction?
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
(( ping ))
This article by Mark Walker contains some pretty amazing stuff I never read before.
Some of it really surprised me.
Ware went on to write that he believed prosecutors "will fail to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Staff Sgt. Wuterich committed any offenses other than dereliction of duty."
October 2007... They knew all this over FOUR FREAKING YEARS AGO??
Then the SOBs should not have pursured the case created by a reporter. This is an outrage that they send investigators to look for witnesses in that neighborhood where the fight occurred.
And low-life Bush owed these men a pardon the minute it happened. He would have been happy to throw them in a cell beside Ramos and Campeon.
The establishment in our government has repeatedly broken faith with the men it sends to fight.
Neal Puckett, Wuterich's lead attorney, said Thursday that the defense drew up papers two years ago that would have had his client pleading guilty to negligent dereliction of duty. They offered to do so again last year, he said.
Puckett said prosecutors rejected the offer because they wanted Wuterich to plead guilty to willful dereliction, which carries a longer jail sentence and would have required an admission that he purposely ignored his responsibilities.
Yep.
I thought I read somewhere that only the prosecution was allowed to approach with a “deal”?
Many military men learn that the Government will accept your death. This is a crazy feeling when you understand this in a very personal. and not just an abstract way.
But killing and imprisoning them just to advance partisan political objectives, or to posture for the news is criminal.
Dems and Repub leaders have broken faith with our men. It is not one isolated incident, it is a long, deliberate, pattern of abuse.
Yes it is, and I can tell you that is exactly why so many combat veterans support Ron Paul.
Typo corrected.
This was a brass hat farce from the beginning.
>> Neal Puckett, Wuterich’s lead attorney, said Thursday that the defense drew up papers two years ago...
That is certainly a revelation.
Between endless resources and political zealotry, I guess it’s no surprise those papers were never put into play with the prosecution.
Probably a sound point about Paul, there are a lot of vets who support him.
Everyone knows they might die for a military objective. But today, a soldier, marine, or USBP man 30 miles from nowhere on the desert gets in a firefight,,
The government swings viciously into action to imprison you, by getting witness statements from Iraqis who live with the insurgents, or from cartel members given green cards.
This is creating an environment where men armed by our government cannot just do their duty, knowing the government would go to big lengths to protect them. Now they must also do their duty AND make sure they can survive the attack from behind as well.
It’s a disgrace.
Yes. It changes the way I am viewing the conclusion of this mess... I'm still processing this.
Nothing is worse in our legal system than a malicious prosecutor. Nothing.
“I thought I read somewhere that only the prosecution was allowed to approach with a “deal”?”
Not familiar with UCMJ protocols, but in the civilian world the defense seeks deals all the time. It is a bargaining process usually. I hate deals. Tee it up.
Except a malicious military prosecutor, pushed by a cowardly panty-waist Pentagon, who goes after a combat veteran who did as he was trained and responded to a buddy getting blown to pieces in an ambush right before his eyes.
That falls under the same setting. Do not doubt civilian counterparts can be just as destructive. Look at the vile career of Janet Reno as an example.
I am amazed that anyone is willing to serve this corrupt government however. No nation will survive when it grinds down its own defenders. Alter or abolish the pustule on the Potomac!
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