The Haditha Marines-The Squad Leader-A Final Chapter (SSgt Wuterich-Master Thread)

1-2-2012

[smoothsailing]

January 2, 2012

The Haditha Marines-The Squad Leader-A Final Chapter

It certainly seems appropriate that the last defendant in the Haditha case is the squad leader, SSgt Frank Wuterich. Leaders take responsibility, and SSgt Wuterich has taken full responsibility for the actions of his squad in Haditha. His stance from the outset has remained clear:

"My Marines responded to the threats they faced in the manner that we all had been trained", he has steadfastly maintained. "I will bear the memory of the events of that day forever, and will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to the attack."

As the last Marine originally charged in the deaths of Iraqis in Haditha, Iraq in 2005, SSgt Wuterich will be seated at the defense table in his general court-martial two days from now, Wednesday, January 4th. Barring last minute motions or outright dismissal of charges, jury selection will begin Wednesday or Thursday. SSgt. Wuterich will be tried by a jury of combat-experienced Marines, and the panel will include at least two Marines from the enlisted ranks.

Much has been written over the last six years about Haditha, and links to some of the most recent news articles and commentaries are included at the bottom of this post to help bring readers up to date. For older Free Republic postings, please use this link or enter the keyword Haditha in the Free Republic search engine.

The purpose of this Free Republic thread is to serve as a "Master Post" where trial news and updates can be brought together in one place for easy reference by those interested in following the proceedings as they unfold.

Freepers Smoothsailing, Red Rover, and Jazusamo will monitor the thread, post updates, and attempt to answer questions or direct readers to information sources. Jazusamo maintains the Haditha Marine Ping List. Please ask Jazusamo to be added to the ping list if you wish to be alerted to updates.

Recent News and Commentary:

MILITARY TIMES-Haditha Marine Faces Trial

Count Down to the Last Haditha Trial

MILITARY: Two high-profile cases set for Pendleton courtrooms

Remember SSgt Frank D. Wuterich: The last Haditha Marine goes on trial

Don’t rewrite Murtha’s legacy (Haditha Marines)

[RedRover]

I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise that lawyers for the other defendants are pissed in a major way.

One e-mailed, “I thought our collective efforts were aimed at demonstrating the truth of the matter: that war is hell and innocents will unfortunately die, especially when their homes are used as firing positions. I didn’t understand we were interested in Iraqi concerns about justice and I didn’t understand that the true injustice in these cases was that our clients had their charges dismissed. Now I get it.”

[jazusamo]

Thanks, Red. He should be pissed and has every right to be. I wouldn’t be surprised if you hear from more of them as well as other Marines that were charged.

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for the heads up.
Yeah, I was kind of wondering what the other Marines and their lawyers thought about this.

I guess they know when they’ve been slapped in the face.

[Lancey Howard]

...but I fully support Frank's decision as I know you do

Certainly.
This young man Frank Wuterich went from decorated Marine combat veteran one minute, to indicted war criminal the next. Most people who are charged with serious crimes tend to lean heavily on their lawyers for guidance and assurance. This is natural because your life is, literally, in their hands. They become your closest (maybe only) friends. I have no doubt that Frank did exactly what his lawyers counseled him to do, either directly or indirectly through language, tone, facial expression, etc. "I dunno... sounds real good... but of course, the final decision is yours."

So yeah, I put absolutely none of this Puckett nonsense on Frank Wuterich. In fact, I am still elated that he is walking away a free man. I am simply convinced that better lawyers would have counseled Frank to take this thing all the way home.

[RedRover]

From conversations tonight, I can say that there is a great deal of outrage and a desire amongst certain people to use DOM as a platform for it. I said, I’m in.

Don’t know when this will commence or if it will be suitable for posting on FR. I don’t want to cause certain people pain, God knows. But there is a principle here and I feel I, we, have to be true to that.

I’ll keep everyone posted and we’ll see what happens next. But wanted to give a heads-up.

[Lancey Howard]

...there is a great deal of outrage and a desire amongst certain people to use DOM as a platform for it. I said, I’m in.

Excellent.
This stuff needs to be aired out rather than held in.

[RedRover]

Exactly what I feel.

[lilycicero]

You own it...the tribe has spoken.

[smoothsailing]

Brityank, the video link you posted is for the PBS evening edition. Puckett also talked along similar lines on the PBS midday edition. It’s about 14 minutes and below is a link to the audio and a complete rough transcript.

http://www.kpbs.org/audioclips/13407/#transcript

One thing that strikes me about Puckett in both of these interviews is how he is guiding the discussion toward a conclusion that Frank was railroaded by a prosecution that cut deals with his squad mates in order to get at him. In doing so, according to Puckett, justice was not served and the truth may never be known.

Could this be tied to the type of discharge Puckett expects Frank to recieve? In other words, is Puckett weaving a narrative that will sastisfy an administrative review board and the convening authority?

[Lancey Howard]

Could this be tied to the type of discharge Puckett expects Frank to recieve? In other words, is Puckett weaving a narrative that will sastisfy an administrative review board and the convening authority?

I thought an "honorable discharge" was a done deal?

"It will be an honorable discharge." - Semper Fi Mom

[smoothsailing]

Take a look at this video...

http://camppendleton.patch.com/articles/attorneys-talk-about-case#video-8965057

[smoothsailing]

Puckett is most definitely sticking with this narrative. He’s put it up on twitter and posted it on his website. He’s doubling down.

http://www.puckettfaraj.com/2012/01/neal-puckett-speaks-to-npr-about-the-haditha-trial/

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for the links. I’ll check them out.

[RedRover]

To the best of my knowledge, he’s still in and the discharge hasn’t been decided—or at least, it hasn’t been made official.

I think smooth is probably right but that doesn’t feel like a winning strategy.

[smoothsailing]

What is needed is a swift and final official decision and public statement on Frank’s discharge. That should free Puckett from any further obligation to Frank, making his statements and actions going forward purely of his own design and not tied to any pending action involving Frank as his client.

[brityank]

Many thanks smooth, Red, Lancey, lily, and all; as someone else said 'it's been a hell of a ride!'

I'm going out on a limb here, and stating that LGen Waldhauser once more instigated Unlawful Command Influence in that he caused the shutdown of the testimonies of the prosecutions witnesses because it was readily apparent they were not providing any testimony of even "Negligent Dereliction of Duty".

As Nat Helm described the details in his summations, once Sgt. Maj. Edward Sax gave his testimony it appeared the Panel had made up their minds. Had they come back after deliberation (if any) with a full exoneration there would have been a very black stain covering the Globe&Eagle, and a firm notice to all Military that the Pentagon Brass can not be relied upon to support the Troops on the battlefield. Another point these cases brought to the fore, is just how dependent the Defense is on the Military Prosecutor for access to Witnesses and Exculpatory Testimony. What other explanation comes to mind for the disallowance of LCol. Chessani to appear for the Defense?

So Puckett gets another coupe to hang on his wall (Charged with NINE Murders - whittled down to Negigent Dereliction) and the Marine Brass gets a conviction to prove it was 'right'.

Neither one are true, and we all got gypped!

[jazusamo]

What is needed is a swift and final official decision and public statement on Frank’s discharge.

I couldn't agree more.

[brityank]

I just posted my #476 there, let you know if I get a reply.       :^)

[smoothsailing]

Final Case Status Report For SSgt Frank Wuterich

By United American Patriots | Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Neal A. Puckett, Esq.
The Law Firm Of Puckett And Faraj, PC
1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 210
Alexandria, VA 22314

United American Patriots Inc.
7800 Airport Center Drive, Suite 401
Greensboro, NC 27409

January 29, 2012

Re: Final Monthly case report in the matter of U.S. v. SSgt Frank D. Wuterich, USMC

Dear United American Patriots:

1. Case number and client’s full name: FDW-3221 Frank D. Wuterich

2. Date of this report: 1/30/2012

3. Date of last report: 12/27/2011

4. Current status for the case being reported on: Case complete.

5. All activities since last monthly report: Nearly four weeks of trial brought the prosecution to its knees. Prosecution witnesses admitted to so many lies that there was nothing left to believe. Recognizing failure, the lead prosecutor offered SSgt Wuterich a pretrial agreement that had been authorized by the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for MARCENT. This case began with 18 counts of murder on a charge sheet announced just before Christmas in 2006. It ended with a plea to one count of negligent dereliction of duty. The maximum punishment authorized for that offense was 3 months in confinement, forfeiture of 2/3 of base pay per month for 3 months and reduction to pay grade E-1. The offense does not authorize punitive discharge. The military judge sentenced SSgt Wuterich to the maximum 3 months in confinement and reduction to pay grade E-1. The pretrial agreement provided that the convening authority would disapprove all confinement. We believe he will also defer approval of the reduction in rank until he takes final action on the case. We will be asking him to disapprove that punishment, as well.

6. Statement of activities/events planned for the forthcoming month: We will be assisting SSgt Wuterich to make sure he receives the full measure of medical and mental health evaluations prior to transitioning out of the Marine Corps. We expect that he will receive an Honorable discharge in the coming weeks. He will be seeking employment in the information technology field.

7. Statement of all monies received from UAP with the latest receipt highlighted: The Wuterich defense team has received a total of 16 disbursements of funds totaling $163,000.00. The latest amount received was $10,000.00.

8. All monies received from sources other than UAP: We received small donations from SSgt Wuterich’s website that totaled $903.51 during the trial.

9. Current financial status of the case being reported on: SSgt Wuterich asked me to thank you for him personally. He is acutely aware that if it were not for the financial support provided by United American Patriots, this nearly six-year representation could not have survived. Litigation costs were astronomical, as previously reported. The defense team never lost faith that we could defeat all manner of homicide charges the government sought to prove. We won because we believed in the integrity and moral courage of our client. In the end, he alone made the decision to accept responsibility for his entire squad as he had from his very first reports to his platoon commander, his company commander and the investigative teams sent to interrogate the Marines of Kilo, 3/1. He boldly took responsibility for “everything his squad did or failed to do”. He is a Marine Staff NCO, through and through.

Respectfully submitted,

Neal A. Puckett, Esq.
Senior and Founding Partner

---

Link to original scanned PDF document.

[smoothsailing]

In my post #479 above, check points 5 and 6. Puckett expresses expectations, but not certainties, about Frank’s discharge. As of January 31st, he does not know for sure what type of discharge Frank will recieve.