Marines' Charges Dropped in Iraq Deaths

[thedrifter]

Marines' Charges Dropped in Iraq Deaths

Thursday, August 09, 2007
By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES —
The Marine Corps has dropped all charges against a captain accused of failing to investigate the deaths of 24 civilians and another Marine accused in some of the killings, the Corps announced Thursday.

Capt. Randy W. Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer from Dunkirk, Md., was one of four officers charged with failing to adequately probe the killings.

"It is clear to me that any error of omission or commission by Capt. Stone does not warrant action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," Lt. Gen. James Mattis wrote.

The Corps also announced that charges had been dismissed against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, who was accused of murdering three brothers in the assault that followed a deadly roadside bombing of U.S. troops.

The decision to drop the charges against Sharratt followed an earlier recommendation from Lt. Col. Paul Ware, a hearing officer.

"The government version is unsupported by independent evidence," Ware wrote. "To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary."

Prosecutors alleged Sharratt and other members of his battalion engaged in a revenge-motivated assault on Iraqi civilians after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine. Sharratt contended the Iraqi men he confronted were insurgents and at least one was holding an AK-47 rifle when he fired at them.

Ware said prosecution of Sharratt could set a "dangerous precedent that ... may encourage others to bear false witness against Marines as a tactic to erode public support of the Marine Corps and its mission in Iraq."

"Even more dangerous is the potential that a Marine may hesitate at the critical moment when facing the enemy," Ware said.

Besides Sharratt, two other enlisted men were charged with murder. Four officers, including Stone, were accused of failing to investigate the deaths.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

All charges dropped against lance corporal in Hadithah deaths
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Aug 9, 2007 13:05:36 EDT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The top commander of Marine Corps Forces-Central Command, citing “this morally bruising environment,” dropped all charges Thursday against a lance corporal charged with murder in the 2005 deaths of several Iraqis in Hadithah.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis made his decision to dismiss all charges against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt after meeting with the Marine and his attorneys.

Defense attorneys were elated and relieved at Mattis’ decision. “This is truly an event of historic proportions,” attorneys Gary Myers and James Culp said in a statement issued Thursday morning.

“In his dismissal of the charges against Lance Corporal Sharratt, General Mattis has accurately and eloquently described the extreme demands placed upon combat Marines and soldiers in insurgency warfare. The dismissal of charges demonstrates that this convening authority fully understands the complex and difficult circumstances his Marines face in Iraq and Afghanistan,” they wrote. “About the complexity of this conflict and Lance Corporal Sharratt’s innocence, we can add nothing to the powerful words of General Mattis.”

Sharratt is one of four enlisted men who originally faced murder and other charges in the deaths of two dozen civilians in Hadithah following a Nov. 19, 2005, roadside bomb attack that killed one leatherneck and wounded two others from their squad with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.

Four officers with the battalion, including the commander, also were charged with dereliction of duty and failing to follow orders for allegedly ignoring or not investigating allegations that squad members murdered the civilians.

An investigating officer recommended that all charges against Sharratt be dropped. Mattis, in a statement issued Thursday morning, said that he reviewed the investigations and evidence and concurred.

Sharratt, he wrote, “has served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq where our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians.”

“The challenges of this combat environment put extreme pressures on our Marines,” Mattis wrote. “Notwithstanding, operational, moral and legal imperatives demand that we Marines stay true to our own standards and maintain compliance with the law of war in this morally bruising environment.”

“With the dismissal of these charges, LCpl Sharratt may fairly conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat,” Mattis added. “And as he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law — and in my eyes — innocent.”

Ellie

[phantomphixer]

The difference between civillian and insurgent?

The AP photgrapher moved the AK before he took the picture.

[thedrifter]

Statements from Lt. Gen. James Mattis

UNION-TRIBUNE

August 9, 2007

Statement from Lt. Gen. James Mattis concerning his decision to drop all charges against Capt. Randy Stone in the Haditha murder case. The Marine Corps released his remarks Thursday:

"I have thoroughly reviewed and considered all of the evidence surrounding the Haditha incident and Captain Stone's conduct with respect to command reporting of and response to the incident. It is clear to me that any error of omission or commission by Captain Stone does not warrant action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

"The Article 32 Investigating Officer recommended that the case not be tried at court–martial. I am aware of the line that separates the merely remiss from the clearly criminal, and I do not believe that any mistakes Captain Stone made with respect to the incident rise to the level of criminal behavior.

"In determining the appropriate disposition of this case, I have also considered Captain Stone's conduct and performance in full context. During the time period at issue, Captain Stone was in his first assignment serving as a Marine judge advocate under difficult circumstances as a staff member of an infantry battalion engaged in combat operations. He willingly volunteered for this assignment and took on challenging duties with enthusiasm. Similarly, his attentiveness to training the Marines in the law of war and rules of engagement and willingness to share their hardship to better appreciate the challenges facing them are notable. By patrolling alongside the infantrymen in his Battalion, he helped them embrace the imperative of ethical behavior in combat. In this manner, he directly contributed to our Nation's effort to fight a shadowy enemy who hides among and endangers innocent people and does not comply with any aspect of the law of war.

"Captain Stone and his fellow Marines served in the most ethically challenging combat environment in the world. Nonetheless, Marines are expected to withstand the extreme and fatiguing pressures inherent in counterinsurgency operations, protecting the innocent, while tirelessly fighting the enemy with relentless vigor. I have no doubt that he now understands the absolute necessity for objective inquiry into the combat actions of our Marines in such an environment, especially when innocent lives are lost.

"Captain Stone's experience in this incident offers many hard learned lessons that I am confident will serve him well in the future. It is incumbent on him to ensure that the lessons he has learned provide guidance for future judge advocates who may serve under similar circumstances in an infantry battalion in combat.

"I have impressed upon Captain Stone the fact that the Marine Corps' investigation into the Haditha incident has been driven solely by the interests of justice. Now that his case is resolved, I know that he will continue to serve with motivation and dedication, and with the understanding that he has much to contribute to the success of his unit and the Marine Corps."

Statement from Lt. Gen. James Mattis concerning his decision to drop all charges against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt in the Haditha murder case. The Marine Corps released his remarks Thursday:

"The events of November 19, 2005 have been exhaustively reviewed by Marine, Army, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigators. An independent Article 32 Investigating Officer has considered all the facts and determined that the evidence does not support a referral to court–martial for LCpl Sharratt. Based on my review of all the evidence in this case and considering the recommendation of the Article 32 officer, I have dismissed the charges against LCpl Sharratt.

"LCpl Sharratt has served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq where our Nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians. The challenges of this combat environment put extreme pressures on our Marines. Notwithstanding, operational, moral, and legal imperatives demand that we Marines stay true to our own standards and maintain compliance with the law of war in this morally bruising environment.

"The experience of combat is difficult to understand intellectually and very difficult to appreciate emotionally. One of our Nation's most articulate Supreme Court Justices, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., served as an infantryman during the Civil War and described war as an 'incommunicable experience.' He has also noted elsewhere that 'detached reflection cannot be demanded in the face of an uplifted knife.' Marines have a well earned reputation for remaining cool in the face of enemies brandishing much more than knives. The brutal reality that Justice Holmes described is experienced each day in Iraq, where Marines willingly put themselves at great risk to protect innocent civilians. Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield. Our way is right, but it is also difficult.

"With the dismissal of these charges LCpl Sharratt may fairly conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat. And as he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law – and in my eyes – innocent."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines' charges dropped in Iraq deaths

By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer
25 minutes ago

All charges have been dismissed against two Marines accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps announced Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., was charged with murdering three brothers. Capt. Randy Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer from Dunkirk, Md., was charged with failing to adequately report and investigate the Nov. 19, 2005, combat action in which women and children were among the dead.

In his decision to dismiss charges, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general with jurisdiction in the case, said he was sympathetic to the challenges Marines on the ground face in Iraq.

"Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield," Mattis wrote in his letter to Sharratt.

The decision to drop charges against the two Marines follows earlier recommendations by investigating officers who listened to evidence against them, though it was recommended that Stone face an administrative hearing.

Mattis met with Sharratt and Stone at Camp Pendleton early Thursday to tell them the charges were dismissed. Sharratt's mother, Theresa, said her son called home immediately afterward.

"He says, 'Mom, it's over,'" she said. "Those are the words I couldn't wait to hear."

Theresa Sharratt said that her son's four-year enlistment ended last month, but that he had been kept in the service on a legal hold. He is now free to become a civilian and may go back to school.

Sharratt's attorneys, Gary Myers and James Culp, released a brief statement from their client, who said he knew he had done nothing wrong.

"Though I am glad I will be able to move on with my life, my heart is still heavy for my fellow Marines ... who continue to face serious charges," Sharratt said in the statement.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder, and four officers were charged with failing to investigate. Prosecutors dropped charges against one of the enlisted men, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz of Chicago, and gave him immunity to testify against his squad mates.

The central figure in the case remains squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., who faces 18 counts of murder. He is scheduled to attend a preliminary hearing Aug. 22.

The other enlisted Marine, Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum of Edmond, Okla., has attended a preliminary hearing, but no recommendation has been made about whether he should stand trial for murder.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani of Rangely, Colo., is the only other officer aside from Stone to attend an initial hearing, known as an Article 32 investigation. The investigator for Chessani recommended he face a general court-martial on charges of dereliction of duty for failing to investigate.

The two dozen Iraqis died after a roadside bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, of El Paso, Texas, who was driving a Humvee.

In the aftermath of the blast, Marines shot a group of men by a car and cleared several houses with grenades and gunfire. The Marines have said they believed the houses were occupied by insurgents, but the victims included elderly people, women and children, including several who were slain in bed.

At his preliminary hearing in June, Sharratt said he had helped clear several houses without incident. Then he noticed a group of Iraqi men looking at him suspiciously by a house close to where the bomb went off.

Along with three other Marines, including Wuterich, Sharratt went to look for the men.

Sharratt said he opened fire in the house because he saw an Iraqi point an AK-47 at him and heard another loading an AK-47 in an adjacent room.

The women and children died in a different house, and Sharratt was not charged in their deaths.

Prosecutors alleged that Sharratt and other members of his squad did not properly identify their targets before opening fire, but Mattis concluded Sharratt acted within the rules of engagement.

"Our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely draws fire toward civilians," Mattis wrote.

Stone was the lawyer for the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines who taught troops about combat law and rules of engagement. The investigating officer at Stone's hearing recommended dropping the charges against him but pursuing a lesser, administrative charge for failing to investigate.

Prosecutors said Stone, a newcomer to the Marines who joined the battalion in Iraq several weeks behind his comrades, overlooked the killings to curry favor with other Marines, rather than objectively reporting the deaths.

Again, Mattis found no fault in Stone's actions, and said the captain would continue to serve as a lawyer in the Marines.

"Stone's experience in this incident offers many hard learned lessons that I am confident will serve him well in the future," Mattis wrote in a statement.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

US Marines cleared over Haditha massacre


Insufficient evidence to press charges against US Marines accused of shooting Iraqi women, children.


By Rob Woollard - LOS ANGELES

Two US Marines facing charges in connection with the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha two years ago were cleared of wrongdoing Thursday, the military said.


In rulings released at the Marines Camp Pendleton base in southern California, Lieutenant General James Mattis announced that charges against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt and Captain Randy Stone had been dropped.


Sharratt had been charged with three counts of murder while Stone was accused of failing to properly investigate the incident, the most serious case of alleged war crimes involving US forces in Iraq.


Prosecutors allege Marines went on a rampage, shooting men, women and children in the hours after a roadside bombing that tore a popular comrade in half while on patrol in Haditha on November 19, 2005.


Lawyers for soldiers in the case have insisted Marines acted lawfully and according to battlefield rules of engagement.


In his ruling, Mattis said after studying the report of an investigating officer in Sharratt's case there was insufficient evidence to press charges.


"Based on my review of all the evidence in this case ... I have dismissed the charges," Mattis said.


Sharratt was accused of shooting three Iraqi men execution-style during the incident. Sharratt said the men were shot at close quarters as Marines cleared a house where insurgents were believed to be operating.


In a statement recommending charges against Sharratt be dropped released last month, investigator Lieutenant Colonel Paul Ware said the allegations were "unsupported by the independent evidence."


"To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary," Ware added.


Mattis said Marines in Iraq were "fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians."


"The challenges of this combat environment put extreme pressures on our Marines," Mattis wrote in his ruling.


In a statement released by his lawyers, Sharratt said he was relieved the case was closed but expressed concern for other Marines still facing charges.


"Though I am glad I will be able to move on with my life, my heart is still heavy for my fellow Marines ... who continue to face serious charges," Sharratt said.


A total of eight Marines were initially charged last December over the Haditha case. Four soldiers were accused of murder counts while four senior officers were charged with failing to properly investigate the deaths.


A Marines press release following the bloodshed said 15 people had died in a massive roadside bomb. The Marines later acknowledged the release was false after a lengthy probe.


Stone, 35, had been charged with violation of a lawful order and two counts of dereliction of duty over the way the Haditha incident was reported.


However, after a preliminary hearing to determine whether Stone should face court martial, Mattis said he was satisfied his actions were not criminal.


"I have thoroughly reviewed and considered all of the evidence surrounding the Haditha incident and Captain Stone's conduct with respect to command reporting of and response to the incident," Mattis wrote.


"I am aware of the line that separates the merely remiss from the clearly criminal, and I do not believe that any mistakes Captain Stone made with respect to the incident rise to the level of criminal behavior."


Stone, a military judge who presides over court martials, was one of the most senior officers to be charged in the case.


The decision to drop charges against Stone and Sharratt leaves five other Marines -- two soldiers and three officers -- facing charges in the case. Another soldier, Sergeant Sanick De La Cruz, had murder charges dropped after agreeing to testify in other cases.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

"Innocent" at Haditha

By Ben Johnson
FrontPageMagazine.com | 8/10/2007

IT’S BEEN MORE THAN A YEAR SINCE JOHN MURTHA charged that U.S. Marines “killed innocent civilians in cold blood” in Haditha. Yesterday, a military commander lifted Murtha’s preemptive conviction.


Last May, John Murtha held a press conference accusing our soldiers of slaughtering 24 Iraqis – including women and children – in the town of Haditha in late November 2005. He guaranteed an investigation would determine “[o]ur troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” His words ricocheted around the Arab world, as Al Jazeera dutifully quoted him. This “pressure,” Murtha said, could be ended by bringing troops home. The government eventually charged four men with “unpremeditated murder.”


On August 9th, the military dismissed all charges against one of the remaining three Marines accused of murder.[1] Indeed, Lt. Gen. James Mattis went further than finding Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt not guilty; he called the 22-year-old “innocent.” He concluded his statement by noting Sharratt “has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law – and in my eyes – innocent.”


All the accused have claimed they engaged in a battle with terrorists, who hid inside a home, and the civilian deaths were unintentional. Mattis verified this claim, adding a fact that seems to elude Murtha: “our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians.”


The ruling is merely the latest indication that the government’s case against the three is crumbling. In June, Lt. Col. Paul Ware told the prosecution flatly, “The account you want me to believe does not support unpremeditated murder. Your theories don’t match the reason you say we should go to trial.” Relatives would not allow doctors to autopsy the bodies, and the house in question had been freshly repaired and painted before investigators could retrieve additional evidence. (Ware also doubted Iraqi witnesses would travel stateside to testify.) However, photographs of the scene revealed the curtains and walls were riddled with bullet holes – indicating a firefight had taken place.


In April, the government dropped charges against Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz in exchange for his testimony and provided immunity for several others. A defense attorney states Dela Cruz has already changed his story five times.


Two others remain charged with murder: Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum and Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. Tatum’s Article 32 hearing – a military-style Grand Jury, which determines if the case proceeds to a court martial trial – wrapped up late last month. Prosecutors accuse Tatum of not following the Rules of Engagement, which state the Marine must identify that each specific target has hostile intent before firing. Which sounds like a terrific way to end up in the Memorial Day eulogy rather than the Veterans Day parade.


Tatum nearly broke down into tears when he recounted that he may have killed a child; yet he maintains after an explosion, he heard someone rack an AK-47 and could not clearly see the targets through the smoke. The prosecution’s star witness, Lance Cpl. Humberto Mendoza, testified Tatum ordered him to murder the innocents, then Tatum did it himself when he refused.


There are, however, significant reasons to question Mendoza’s veracity. While Tatum passed his lie detector test, Mendoza failed his. Mendoza admitted shooting two unarmed people, and confessed to lying and withholding evidence for more than a year. His testimony conflicts with that of every other witness, and with itself. Oh, and “Mendoza is trying to get his application for U.S. citizenship released by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is holding up his papers.” Mattis has yet to rule in this case.


Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has yet to have his Article 32 hearing.


If Murtha genuinely cared about the troops, he would have protested the conditions of their interrogations. Investigators refused to provide attorneys to those who asked, questioned the men for 12 hours at a time, and did not give them bathroom breaks. (The men had to relieve themselves into bottles.) Had this treatment taken place at Guantanamo Bay, Congress would have already held a dozen hearings on the issue. When this treatment is accorded to enlisted men instead of terrorist murderers, the Democratic Left’s outrage seems to wane.


The media, too, lost interest when the proceedings no longer portrayed the enlisted men as brutal babykillers. True to form, Murtha’s blood libel made front page headlines. The proceedings were largely passed over – except when Mendoza testified. News of the exoneration has yet to make a ripple. Murtha demonized Sharratt and the others in front of the entire world. Tatum and Wuterich may yet prove guilty, but if they are acquitted, they may well join Sharratt in asking, “Where do I go to get my reputation back?”


Sharratt’s good name was the first casualty of Jack Murtha’s Iraq policy. If the Left succeeds in following all his advice, future casualties will not be figurative.


ENDNOTES:
1. He also threw out separate charges against another GI in the Haditha incident.

Ellie