Lawyers call Marine accused of Haditha murder a hero

By ALLISON HOFFMAN
The Associated Press

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The first Marine to appear in court on charges of murdering Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha was a brave soldier, and forensic evidence will exonerate him in the biggest U.S. military case to arise from the Iraq war, his lawyer said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, sat quietly through the first day of a preliminary hearing to determine whether he will face a court-martial on three counts of unpremeditated murder in the deaths of three brothers on Nov. 19, 2005.

No one disputes that Sharratt was the triggerman. The son of one of the men and all three widows have said in statements to prosecutors that they believe their relatives were murdered in a systematic fashion, while Sharratt has said he believed he was simply responding to a perceived threat as he had been trained to do.

"The forensics in this case dispel the notion that this was an execution," lead counsel Myers told Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the investigating officer. "He's not a murderer. Rather, he's extremely brave."

Sharratt appeared in green fatigues and said nothing as witnesses recounted the string of killings in neighboring houses by his squadmates that preceded his entry into the home where brothers Jasib, Kahtan and Jamal Aiad Ahmed died.

Sharratt, of Canonsburg, Pa., is one of three enlisted men accused of murdering 24 Iraqi men, women and children. His case is the first of the three to go to a hearing known as an Article 32 investigation, the military equivalent of a grand jury.

Murder charges have been dropped against a fourth enlisted man, who will be required to testify about his squadmates' actions.

Additionally, four officers are charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the killings.

The two dozen people were slain after a roadside bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas in his Humvee.

In a declaration dated March 19, 2006, Sharratt told investigators he believed the entire area was hostile and that he could therefore "use any means necessary and my training to eliminate the hostile threat."


He described entering a house after the blast and shooting an armed man in the face. Sharratt told investigators he then went into a bedroom, firing at a man holding an AK-47 rifle and subsequently shooting at others in the room after the armed man fell.

"I could not tell while I was shooting if they were armed or not, but I felt threatened," Sharratt said in his statement.

In a military courtroom Monday, Sharratt's attorneys sharply questioned a private translator who was hired by prosectors to interview the widows of the three men and one of their sons about the killings.

Amir Al Kaysey, an Iraqi who now lives in Queens, N.Y., and has done contract work for the U.S. military, acknowledged he had no experience taking depositions when he traveled to Haditha in January and February to question family members.

"The Iraqi women say there was a murder committed," Myers told reporters after the hearing recessed. "People need to understand what those statements mean."

Sharratt, a veteran of the fierce 2004 battles in Fallujah, was in Haditha on his second Iraq tour.

The troops are from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.

Defense attorneys for the highest-ranking Marine officer accused in the case, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, finished closing statements Monday in Chessani's own hearing on dereliction of duty charges for failing to investigate. Investigators will prepare a report for commanding general Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who has final say over which cases proceed to trial.

An attorney for Capt. Randy Stone, a military lawyer facing charges in the case, said on Saturday that an investigating officer recommended dismissing criminal charges against the 19-year Marine veteran and handling the case administratively.

June 12, 2007 12:15 AM

Ellie