Posted on 06/05/2008 7:04:51 PM PDT by RedRover
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine sniper has been charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the June 2007 deaths of two civilians in Iraq.
The sniper, Sgt. John Winnick II, faces additional accusations of aggravated assault against two other civilians and failing to adhere to the military's rules of engagement.
The charges represent the fifth case involving alleged unlawful killings in Iraq to have been brought against Camp Pendleton Marines since the U.S. invasion in March 2003.
A hearing for Winnick will take place at Camp Pendleton this summer to determine if the charges against him should stand.
The charges were disclosed to the North County Times during a Thursday telephone conversation with Gary Myers, a civilian attorney who has been hired to represent Winnick. He added he had just been brought into the case and had not yet received a full briefing.
A Marine attorney with intimate knowledge of the case also confirmed the charges, which have not been made public by base officials.
According to a charging document, Winnick is alleged to have killed the civilians on June 17 while operating out of Combat Outpost Golden near Lake Tharthar in Iraq's western Anbar province. The charges also allege he fired at two others without first making a positive determination that any of the civilians posed a threat.
Winnick was a member of Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division working with the base's 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit when the incident occurred.
"The basic allegation is that he shot these people without justification and not having positively identified them as having hostile intent," said the Marine attorney who requested anonymity because the charges have not yet been announced publicly.
If ordered to trial and convicted, Winnick could face up to 40 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He was on his fourth combat assignment when the incident occurred, according to the Marine attorney.
Prosecutors have asked that a fact-finding Article 32 hearing for Winnick take place as soon as next week, but his attorneys are requesting a delay to give them more time to prepare their case.
Twenty other base troops have been charged with unlawful killings in Iraq.
Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged in 2006 with the killing of a retired Iraqi policeman. All were convicted or pleaded guilty to offenses related to that incident, with the squad leader in that case, former Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. His sentence was later commuted to 11 years behind bars.
Four officers and four enlisted men from the base were charged with offenses in the slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha in 2005. Six of the eight, including an enlisted man represented by Myers, have since been acquitted or had charges withdrawn.
A fourth case involves the killing of four suspected insurgents that a squad of Marines detained during fighting in the city of Fallujah in 2004. Two Marines are being prosecuted on murder charges at Camp Pendleton in that incident while their squad leader, Jose L. Nazario, is being prosecuted as a civilian in U.S. District Court in Riverside because he is no longer in the Marine Corps and not subject to recall into the service.
The fifth case involved the killing of an Iraqi army soldier by Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes after the two got into a fight while standing guard duty at Camp Fallujah on Dec. 31, 2006. Holmes was convicted by a base jury of negligent homicide last December, ordered reduced in rank and given a bad conduct discharge.
Yes, it’s a new one.
Thanks, jaz. Now that word’s out, I’ll set up a page on DOM.
“Yet FBI snipers can kill innocent women and children i.e Randy Weaver’s family and get a slap on the wrists.”
They did not get a slap on the wrist.....they got a commendation for their bravery and outstanding performance.
I thought the guilty sniper got demoted, either way its a travesty.
The final say is with the commanding general. In this case, it’s Gen Samuel T. Helland at Pendleton.
I don’t think so, they stated the federal agents were above the law and moved them to waco.
Too bad the people bringing charges don’t just stand up and declare ‘I hate you all’ and then shoot themselves in the head.
But it is like the nail Lancey keeps hammering on. Unless the POTUS and Congress stop groveling to the ragheads, we are going to see a lot more of these cases.
“America haters all....media, liberals, islamofascists, communists, terrorists, ....”
“America haters all....media, liberals, islamofascists, communists, terrorists, .... and most of the Judge Advocate General staff of thieves - Oops, make that lawyers.”
I fixed your minor oversight.
Again? Okay, why is he being charged now? The incident(s) happened a year ago. Could it be someone else was facing troubles so accused him of doing worse?
I don't know the facts yet but that's a reasonable assumption. No matter the verdict, in the end everyone loses, incuding the Corps.
Aha! By Jove, I think you have hit on the REAL reason for all these show trials and charges!
The damn commies can't get their way -- Make love not war, Peace in our time, Dialogue not war -- through normal channels, so they will destroy our ability to wage war, one troop at a time.
Yes we are. It is just not the war you refer to.
The commies within have been unable to convince the majority of the masses to lay down and submit to their superior ideas fast enough to suit them. They are now waging war on multiple fronts within our country and government.
And then we had the massacre of seventy-six US citizens, including 21 children and two pregnant women, by the US government.
Patriot Bump!
Exactly! Let's start here:
and it’s about time we pushed back...
That's what Defend Our Marines is all about!
What in the Hell has happened to the Marine Corps?????
Big hug to my favorite Do-Right Woman!
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