BTW, today is the second anniversary of the Haditha ambush and the death of LCpl Miguel Terrazas.
I hear some civilians got caught in the crossfire in Haditha as well. Well, that's what comes from letting men with AK-47s into your home.
Posted on 11/19/2007 4:28:44 PM PST by camerakid400
Lawyers for Rep. John P. Murtha will appeal a recent ruling advancing a defamation lawsuit brought against the Pennsylvania Democrat by a U.S. Marine under investigation for killing Iraqi civilians.
Justice Department lawyers representing Murtha on Nov. 16 filed notice that they planned to appeal a federal district court judge’s Sept. 28 ruling allowing the lawsuit to proceed and ordering Murtha to give sworn testimony in the case.
Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich sued Murtha in August 2006, accusing the 17-term congressman of defaming him during a news conference last year on the Nov. 19, 2005 killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha.
Wuterich charges that Murtha “publicly and falsely” accused him and other Marines involved in the Haditha incident of “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” and of attempting a cover-up, according to court documents.
Military prosecutors initially charged four enlisted Marines — including Wuterich — with murder and accused four officers of dereliction of duty for failing to adequately investigate the incident.
Charges against four Marines have been dropped and two others will face court-martial, but not for murder.
After a hearing that concluded Sept. 6, an investigating officer recommended Wuterich face court-martial for negligent homicide. Marine Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commander charged with court-martial authority in the case, has yet to decide whether he will stand trial.
Murtha meanwhile had been ordered to sit for a deposition Nov. 27 to help determine whether he was acting in his official capacity as a U.S. government employee when he made the Haditha comments, as his lawyers have argued.
If the court determines Murtha indeed was acting in his official capacity, the U.S. government could be substituted as the defendant — a move that would effectively neuter the case because the federal government cannot be sued for libel.
But Wuterich’s lawyer, Mark S. Zaid, said Monday that the deposition now likely will be delayed, pending a determination from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court will have to determine whether it has the jurisdiction to hear Murtha’s appeal at this stage or if it should wait until a lower court determine’s the fate of Wuterich’s lawsuit.
U.S. Attorney Darrell C. Valdez, who represents Murtha, did not respond to a request for comment.
We’re getting old, aren’t we? LOL
BTW, what happened to Pissant? I received a threatening FReep mail from the now-banned Im4Fred, whom I never heard of, mentioning something about Pissant banning.
What was this all about?
Just one of my pet peeves is when some despicable memeber of Congress like Murtha is called a “Congress Critter” In my view it makes them appear to be warm fuzzy and lovable like a little “bunny critter” ... that is NOT what I think of them ... but then again ... it’s just me
It's all in how we perceive the term.
Hoo-AH, Marine!!
Murtha better be begging for mercy when Sgt. Wuterich gets done with him.
Not sure what happened as I have been gone. I did receive the spam FRmail and read about the ban, but I missed it and I really miss pissant!
What a load of crap that is!
BTW, today is the second anniversary of the Haditha ambush and the death of LCpl Miguel Terrazas.
I hear some civilians got caught in the crossfire in Haditha as well. Well, that's what comes from letting men with AK-47s into your home.
He needs to be standing on a corner with a cardboard sign instead of in the Senate.
Honorable, my butt.
Not only that, but he should be required to reimburse the Department of Justice for the work they've already invested in the case: lawyers at $360 an hour, paralegals at $180 an hour. If Scooter Libby has to pay, then Jack Murtha has to pay.
Always someone raining on my parade. ;^)
One of the survivors, a 12-year-old Iraqi girl, was interviewed through an interpreter on CNN. She said that as the Marines' vehicles first approached, she knew the bomb was about to explode, so she covered her ears.
Think about that for a minute. She knew the bomb was about to explode.
If she knew the bomb was about to explode, so did every other adult in that village. In my opinion, every adult in that village was either an insurgent or a collaborator with the insurgents, and chose to use their own children as human shields.
ROTFL. It be great to have new King of Pork taken down.
Good point -- I hadn't thought about that.
al-Murthawi did NOT just make some off-handed critical comment.
He accused our Marines of killing innocent civilians IN COLD BLOOD!
He was NOT on the House floor, there had been NO investigation, NO arrests, NO trials...in fact those Marines were still ON THE BATTLEFIELD in the middle of a WAR!
HUGE difference from making a "critical" comment about someone that would not result in the death penalty.
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.