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A military appeals court has ruled against CBS in a battle over unaired portions of a "60 Minutes" interview with a key figure in the 2005 slaying of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha. The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals rejected the network's claim of reporter privilege in its battle with Marine Corps prosecutors who want access to the outtakes of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's interview. Wuterich is charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter and related offenses in the incident that was triggered by a roadside bombing that killed one Marine and injured two others. His case...

The Marine Corps has decided not to seek to reinstate criminal charges against a former battalion commander at Camp Pendleton for a 2005 incident in which his troops killed 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Chessani Instead, the Marine Corps will convene a Board of Inquiry to hear testimony and recommend whether Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani should be demoted to major for purposes of retirement. Even if such a recommendation is made and then accepted by the Secretary of the Navy, Chessani's retirement pay would still be based on being a lieutenant colonel. The Marine Corps had sought to try Chessani...

The Marine Corps may be closer to giving up its troubled prosecution of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani... ~ snip ~...a final decision on whether the case gets dropped rests with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway. And if that happens, Chessani would become the seventh of eight Camp Pendleton Marines charged with crimes at Haditha to be fully exonerated. ~ snip ~[SSgt Frank] Wuterich's attorneys plan to seek a dismissal of the charges against their client for the same unlawful command influence found in the Chessani case. They haven't been able to file that motion, however, because his case is...

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has ruled that a Marine cannot sue Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha for defamation. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., claimed Murtha damaged his reputation by saying he and his comrades killed women and children "in cold blood" in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005. Murtha argued he has immunity from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker...

End politically-motivated prosecutions of Jeffrey Chessani and Frank Wuterich, begin the immediate jailing of John MurthaMarines of 3/1 Kilo Co. reacted as they were instructed. But due to political pressure to end the war, seven Marines and their Commanding Officer were lynched by Time Magazine’s Tim McGirk and members of Congress after a sham trial in the court of public opinion. Jeffrey Chessani’s struggle has dragged on for four years. Despite the prosecutorial suppression of mountains of exculpatory evidence, the charges were ultimately dismissed. The large number of prejudicial statements and leaks by politicians and media mouthpieces irreparably tainted the...

During a March 22, 2009, Freedom Radio interview, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Robert Weimann discussed the improper command influence that occured throughout much of the Haditha investigation. The 'Sins of the Generals' were many and began even before Tim McGirk's insurgent talking-points driven Time magazine article. The top brass violated both the spirit and intent of the 1986 'Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reform Act'. The combat commander was the convening authority yet politicians, those outside the chain-of-command, and others improperly interjected themselves, let media buzz and enemy propaganda into their decision cycles, and forced further investigation even after Army Colonel...

Last modified Tuesday, March 10, 2009 4:44 PM PDT Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich leaves his arraignment at Camp Pendleton in 2008. (File Photo by Bill Wechter - Staff Photographer) MILITARY: Haditha case back in court WednesdayBy MARK WALKER - Staff WriterCAMP PENDLETON ---- Attorneys for CBS and the Marine Corps are due in a base courtroom Wednesday to battle over unaired portions of a "60 Minutes" interview with a Marine recounting the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians following a roadside bombing. Prosecutors contend that segments of the interviews not shown in the March 2007 broadcast may prove their case...

A military judge must review unaired portions of a CBS "60 Minutes" interview with Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich in which he recounts the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians following a roadside bombing, a military appeals court has ruled. Prosecutors contend that Wuterich may make admissions on those tapes, known as outtakes, that could help them prove him guilty of manslaughter and related offenses in the 2005 slayings in the Iraqi city of Haditha. The Nov. 17 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is the latest in an ongoing skirmish between CBS and the Marine...

Leading The News Court hears arguments in case of Marine vs. Murtha By Susan Crabtree Posted: 11/18/08 07:21 PM [ET] A Marine who is suing Rep. John Murtha for defamation wants a federal appeals court to order the powerful Pennsylvania Democrat to testify under oath about comments he made related to the deaths of unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005. An attorney for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich on Tuesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to compel Murtha to give a deposition in the case. Attorney Mark Zaid said he...

A three-judge appellate panel is set to hear argument Tuesday in the defamation lawsuit against Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), accused of making false statements to news reporters about a U.S. Marine and his role in the deaths of Iraqi civilians. Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Judith Rogers, and Harry Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit are the panel. Mark Zaid and Bradley Moss, counsel for Frank Wuterich, argue Murtha made “outrageous” statements about Wuterich and his comrades regarding the death of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. Murtha “inappropriately compared the tragic events of Haditha with...

The CBS television network battled it out with the Marine Corps Wednesday morning at the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. The fight is over outtakes from a 60 Minutes interview with a Marine sergeant accused of killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Lawyers representing the three sides (the Marine Corps, CBS and SSgt Frank Wuterich) told the five-judge panel why, and why not, the Marine Corps should be entitled to video recordings the news program didn’t use. The interview was conducted by correspondent Scott Pelley for the 60 Minutes investigation, "The Killings in Haditha". It...

In the nearly two years since eight Camp Pendleton Marines were charged with killing 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, six of the men have been exonerated, and widespread interest in the case has waned. Still, the final chapters in the 2005 killings that reverberated around the world, affected the military's rules of engagement and played a large role in how the war was viewed have yet to be written. Appellate court hearings for the two remaining defendants over the next month will establish the outline of how Haditha's story will end. One of the defendants is the battalion commander at...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The Marine Corps is going to battle with CBS in what could become a prominent First Amendment case stemming from one of the highest-profile incidents arising out of the Iraq war. At issue is whether government prosecutors should have access to outtakes from a "60 Minutes" interview of a Marine who in 2005 led his squad in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians, including several women and children. Legal experts and media advocates say the chances of the Marine Corps prevailing over the revered media giant are slim. Several news organizations have joined CBS in its fight...

Bob Weimann | July 25, 2008 | Pdf version______________________________________________________ “For as long as men and women have talked about war, they have talked about it in terms of right and wrong. And for almost as long, some among them have derided such talk, called it a charade, insisted that war lies beyond (or beneath) moral judgment. War is a world apart, where life itself is at stake, where human nature is reduced to its elemental forms, where self-interest and necessity prevail. Here men and women do what they must to save their selves and their communities, and morality and law...

The US Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals has ruled that the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes must turn over outtakes from its interview with Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich in which he revealed what happened at the so-called “Haditha Massacre” in Iraq more than three years ago. The three-judge appellate panel Friday directed Marine Corps military judge Lt. Col. Jeffrey G. Meeks to “conduct additional fact-finding” including an “in camera review” of the outtakes to determine whether Wuterich revealed any information the government needs to bolster its prosecution against the Marine infantryman. The ruling of the military judge...

A court martial on Wednesday acquitted a US Marine for his role in the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha in Iraq in 2005, the sixth man to be exonerated in the affair, a military official said. Lieutenant Andrew Grayson, 27, was declared "not guilty on all charges" by a jury, said a spokesman for the Camp Pendleton military base in southern California where the hearing started on May 28. Grayson had been charged with making false statements and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps. He was also charged with obstruction of justice, but the military judge dismissed...

The Marine Corps attorneys representing Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich in the so-called “Haditha Massacre” investigation are expected to step down without closure more than a year after their client was charged. Baring unseen events, they will be off the defense team by August 1 and likely earlier than that, according to civilian co-counsel, Mark Zaid. Meanwhile, Wuterich remains in limbo at Camp Pendleton while government prosecutors wrangle with 60 Minutes lawyers over video outtakes the government says will help prove the incident at Haditha was a crime. Wuterich's trial will take place sometime in the fall. Lieutenant Colonel Colby C....

The mockudrama "Battle for Haditha" is going to be making its US premeire in May. As part of the publicity blitz for the fictionalized version of the incident at Haditha, Eliot Ruiz, who portrays Cpl. Ramirez (aka Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich) is making the rounds in his hometown of Philly. It's disgusting that a worthless piece of fiction is presented as a "docudrama" of the events on November 19, 2005. But what is worse is former Marines portraying those whose honor and service were forever tarnished in the Murtha-inspired witch-hunt. "...When I first heard about Nick's film I wasn't sure...

SAN DIEGO -- A military prosecutor is appealing a judge's decision to throw out a subpoena for unaired footage of a "60 Minutes" interview given by a Marine squad leader charged in the killings of 24 Iraqis. The appeal prompted the indefinite postponement of Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich's court-martial, which was scheduled to begin March 10, Wuterich's attorney, Mark Zaid, told The Associated Press on Friday. Marine prosecutor Capt. Nicholas Gannon has said in court documents the unaired CBS footage is vital to the case because it contains admissions by Wuterich of crimes in the attack in Haditha, Iraq,...

CAMP PENDLETON -- A jury that includes several combat veterans will gather in a courtroom here one week from Monday to hear the first case against four Marines being prosecuted in the slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians more than two years ago. The court-martial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will offer dramatically competing versions of what happened in the city of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, and the outcome could set the tone for subsequent courts-martial of the three other Marines. The prosecutions are themselves controversial, drawing scorn from active-duty Marines and retired veterans, as well as global attention....