The last Haditha Marine: Wuterich trial update

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The last Haditha Marine: Wuterich trial update


By Michelle Malkin • January 5, 2012 06:19 PM

I told you on Monday about the opening of SSgt Frank D. Wuterich’s trial this week in connection to an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in the village of Haditha in 2005.

Seven have been exonerated. Wuterich is the last Haditha Marine standing.

Here’s the very latest on the proceedings.
SSgt Wuterich’s defense team succeeded in getting 4 more charges dismissed in the case.
Jury selection is underway.

Puckett Faraj is providing continuous updates on Twitter here.

SSgt Wuterich’s support site is here. Much more background from Defend Our Marines here.

I’ll continue to post dispatches until there’s a verdict.

http://michellemalkin.com/2012/01/05...-trial-update/

Jury selected. 4 enlisted & 4 officers.

Darrel

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The trial continues with breaks to try to get this Marine to agree to a lesser charge.

Jury consists of 8 combat veterans, 4 enlisted and 4 officers.

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Marine pleads guilty, ending final Haditha trial


By Mary Slosson Mary Slosson – 08-0800>44 mins ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The U.S. Marine sergeant accused of leading a massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha pleaded guilty on Monday to dereliction of duty, ending the final prosecution stemming from a 2005 incident that brought international condemnation of U.S. troops.

Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.

He faces a maximum sentence of three months of confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and a reduction in rank when he is sentenced on Tuesday at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, a base spokesman said.

"By pleading guilty to this charge, Staff Sergeant Wuterich has accepted responsibility for his actions," said Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel, a spokesman for the base.

Wuterich, 31, was accused of being the ringleader in a series of November 19, 2005, shooting and grenade attacks that left two dozen civilians dead in Haditha, a city west of Baghdad that was then a hotbed of insurgent activity.

The killings were portrayed by Iraqi witnesses as a massacre of unarmed civilians and brought international condemnation of the U.S. military.

Local witnesses claimed angry Marines had killed unarmed men, women, and children after a popular comrade, Lance Corporal Miguel "TJ" Terrazas, was killed by a roadside bomb.

Lawyers for the troops involved argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving situation in which the Marines believed they were under enemy fire.

Wuterich was originally charged with murder in the case.

"No one denies that the consequences of November 19, 2005 were tragic, least of all Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich," his civilian defense attorney, Neal Puckett, said in a statement released shortly after the plea hearing.

"But the fact of the matter is that he has now been totally exonerated of the homicide charges brought against him by the government and the media. For six years he has had his name dragged through the mud.

Today, we hope, is the beginning of his redemption," the statement said.

Wuterich pleaded not guilty when the court-martial began in early January.

The proceedings were suspended last Wednesday by the military judge in the case, who ordered prosecutors and defense lawyers to seek a negotiated plea deal.

The trial resumed on Friday for one day, and the plea agreement was announced on Monday morning.

Six out of the eight Marines originally accused in the case had their charges dismissed by military judges, and a seventh was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Wuterich enlisted in the Marines after his 1998 graduation from high school, where he was an athletic honor-roll student and played with the marching band.

He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq when the Haditha incident occurred.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb, Steve Gorman and Paul Thomasch)

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120...marine_haditha

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Marine gets no jail time in killing of 24 Iraqi civilians

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich takes responsibility for the slayings and expresses remorse to the victims' families during his sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to negligent dereliction of duty.

Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 31, leaves court after his sentencing hearing at Camp Pendleton, where no comment was made about what kind of discharge he will get after pleading guilty to negligent dereliction of duty in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civlians in 2005. (Chris Carlson / Associated Press / January 24, 2012)

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times January 25, 2012





Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will not serve a jail sentence following his guilty plea in the killing of 24 Iraqis in 2005, a military judge said Tuesday.

The announcement by Lt. Col. David Jones came after Wuterich took responsibility during his sentencing hearing at Camp Pendleton for the killings in the Euphrates River town of Haditha and expressed remorse to the victims' families.

Jones said he had planned to recommend 90 days in the brig — the maximum as requested by the prosecution — but that the plea bargain approved by Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser had called for no jail time.

"It's difficult for the court to fathom negligent dereliction of duty worse than the facts in this case," Jones told Wuterich.

Wuterich, 31, was the last of eight Marines charged in the Haditha killings to have his case resolved. Six had the charges against them dropped, and one Marine was acquitted.

The lack of trial convictions in the Haditha case is likely to further inflame anti-U.S. sentiment in Iraq, as well as fuel criticism by some legal analysts of the 6-year-long investigation and prosecution.

A Marine Corps spokesman said Waldhauser would offer no public explanation of his decision to accept the plea bargain and stipulate that Wuterich receive no jail time.

A doctrine of military law says that "the conviction can be seen as the punishment," Jones noted to jurors at the beginning of the court-martial proceedings.

On Monday, Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty; in exchange, manslaughter, assault and other dereliction charges were dropped.

In a strong, clear voice Tuesday, he addressed the court and the family members of the 24 Iraqis, including three women and seven children, killed by Marines in his squad.

"Words cannot express my sorrow for the loss of your loved ones," Wuterich said. "I know there is nothing I can say to ease your pain."

As the squad leader, Wuterich ordered his Marines "to shoot first, ask questions later" as they stormed two houses on Nov. 19, 2005, after a roadside bomb had killed one Marine and injured two others.

"When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat. And my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive," Wuterich said. "So when I told my team to 'shoot first and ask questions later,' the intent wasn't that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy."

No comment was made at the hearings Monday or Tuesday about what kind of discharge Wuterich will receive. He has been kept on active duty while the court case was underway.

Jones said he would recommend that Wuterich be reduced to a private, a recommendation that will be reviewed by Waldhauser, who is commander of Marine Forces Central Command and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,3372025.story