| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Dope" |
| Date: |
08 Aug 2007 02:41:11 PM |
| Object: |
Haditha Marine's hearing called 'sham' |
Haditha Marine's hearing called 'sham'
Prosecutors putting lid on access to witnesses, evidence
Posted: August 8, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Prosecutors in the case against a Marine officer facing charges for a fatal
2005 confrontation in the insurgent-held town of Haditha, Iraq, apparently
are putting a lid on the defense's access to witnesses and evidence.
Investigating Officer Col. Christopher Conlin earlier ordered the defendant,
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, to go before a general court-martial on
allegations that he didn't properly investigate or report the encounter that
left 24 Iraqis, including 15 civilians, dead.
Chessani had been brought up on the military charges after Time magazine
accused the Marines of "massacring" civilians in the Anbar Province
firefight, and Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., later publicly accused the Marine
officers of a "cover-up."
When Conlin's Article 32 hearing ruling was announced a few weeks ago,
defense counselors filed a request to reopen the hearing because prosecutors
had added extra charges to the case when the hearing was nearly concluded.
They said the prosecutors didn't support the charges with evidence and
they'd had no opportunity to defend against them.
The military agreed to that request, setting aside time this week for a
reopened Article 32 hearing, but officials with the Thomas More Law Center
told WND as today's hearing date approached, the military initially advised
defense lawyers that none of their 13 requested witnesses would be
available, nor would new evidence.
(Story continues below)
"The government's refusal to make any of our requested witnesses available
makes the new hearing nothing but a sham," said Richard Thompson, president
and chief counsel for the center.
"It was clear to any objective observer of the original Article 32 hearing
that the charges against Lt. Col. Chessani would not hold up at
court-martial," Law Center spokesman Brian Rooney told WND. "These so-called
'refinements' are a desperate attempt to find some way to hold our client
criminally liable for doing his duty."
Rooney told WND that in the hours as the hearing time approached, the Law
Center had been told one witness, possibly two, may be available. But he
said since the military court system doesn't allow defense lawyers to demand
the testimony of witnesses at this point, they will document the
prosecution's actions, and make them the subject of later appeals if needed.
"We believe [the late addition of charges] did not follow the rules," he
told WND.
The defense team noted that a number of Marine officers were aware of the
firefight that also killed one Marine, and none had indicated any need for
further investigation or reports.
"In the final analysis, given the overwhelming evidence in this case, it is
absurd to conclude that Lt. Col. Chessani is criminally liable for not
suspecting a . violation. Moreover, in November 2005, there was no order
requiring an investigation into the deaths of noncombatants resulting from
combat action. . Thus, Lt. Col. Chessani's actions were consistent with
those of a reasonable and prudent commander, particularly in light of the
fact that his immediate superior. Col. Davis, advised him on the evening of
19 November 05 that no investigation was required because it was a 'bona
fide combat action,'" the Law Center argued.
In the specific hearing, the defense team argued that, "despite the
government's claims to the contrary, these additional charges did not arise
out of the facts and evidence presented during Lt. Col. Chessani's Article
32 hearing - indeed . the opposite is true."
"Rather, it is defense's reasonable belief that these additional charges
were the direct result of the recommendation of the investigating officer
for Capt. Stone. It is evidence that the government panicked when it
received the dismissal recommendation for Captian Stone . resulting in a
last minute decision over the weekend to draft new additional charges for
Lt. Col. Chessani . to avoid a similar result."
Another report about the same time, from Lt. Col. Paul Ware, who presided
over the case against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, also described the
allegations as "unsupported" and "incredible."
Eight Marines originally were accused in connection with the battle. Counts
against Stone were dismissed when officials ruled the government did not
meet the burden of probable cause in his case.
Sharratt's case was not yet finalized, and other cases still are pending
against Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich; Sgt. Sanick P Dela Cruz; Lance Cpl.
Stephen Tatum; 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson and Capt. Lucas McConnell.
On the day of the firefight, Rooney said, Marines came under an attack that
included both gunfire and explosives. One Marine in a Humvee was killed and
two more were injured, and the resulting house-to-house battle between the
outnumbered 4-man Marine "fire team" and the insurgents resulted in 24 Iraqi
deaths, including 15 civilians.
Testimony also showed terrorists in strongholds such as Haditha had set up
bases in a school, a mosque, and a hospital to be used to attack U.S.
forces, and documentation showed that one terrorist suspected in the Haditha
battle was tracked by an aerial drone to another house, from which he
emerged a short time later holding a baby.
--
Eight years before 9/11, on Feb. 26, 1993, Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida
terrorist network declared war against the United States with a deadly
attack on the World Trade Center. Al-Qaida continued to wage war on the U.S.
throughout the Clinton administration, attacking Khobar Towers in 1996, two
U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, and the U.S.S. Cole in 2000.
.
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| User: "Bushs KGB Herr" |
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| Title: Re: Haditha Bush's hearing called 'sham' |
08 Aug 2007 03:10:20 PM |
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"Hairy Dadope" <HHHA@aol.com> wrote in message
news:46ba1c78$0$4642$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
http://indi.blogs.com/indica/bushAWOL.bmp
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