Dig that whole a little deeper whydoncha? Could it get anymore disgusting? When is Bush going to put an end to this farce?
nbcsandiego.com
Prosecutors Appeal Dismissal Of Haditha Charges
POSTED: 11:33 am PDT June 19, 2008
UPDATED: 11:59 am PDT June 19, 2008
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Prosecutors are appealing the dismissal of charges against a Marine officer accused of failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis.
Prosecutors filed a notice of intent to appeal with the military court on Wednesday, according to court documents made public Thursday.
The notice follows dismissal of charges earlier this week against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani because of improper command influence. A military judge took the action after finding that the four-star general overseeing the case was improperly influenced by an investigator probing the Nov. 19, 2005, shootings by a Marine squad in Haditha, Iraq.
"There is no timetable, no specific schedule now," said Chessani's military attorney, Lt. Col. Jon Shelburne. "Now we wait."
The appeal to the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals delays the case indefinitely.
Prosecutors have 20 days to file a written appeal, spelling out why they disagree with the ruling by the judge, Col. Steven Folsom. Defense attorneys then have 20 days to respond to the appeal, Shelburne said.
It is unclear from the one page court filing what grounds the prosecutor, Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan, will appeal.
A telephone call to the Marine Corps seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Folsom dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can refile. Folsom also barred Marine Forces Central Command from future involvement in the case. Joint Forces Command and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were also excluded from filing future charges. It was not immediately clear who would take over the case and who would have authority to refile charges.
Authorities originally charged eight Marines -- four enlisted men with counts related to the killings and four officers in connection with the investigation. Charges were dropped against five men. 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson of Springboro, Ohio, was acquitted of charges he hindered the investigation. Chessani's case is being appealed.
Only one man currently faces prosecution -- Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., is charged with voluntary manslaughter. He has pleaded innocent.
The killings occurred after a Marine was killed by a roadside bomb. Wuterich and a squad member shot five men by a car at the scene and then Wuterich allegedly ordered his men to clear several houses with grenades and gunfire, which left women and children among the dead.
The Marines were part of Kilo Company of the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Chessani, 44, of Rangely, Colo., was the battalion commander at the time. He has always maintained he did his job as required.
Folsom's ruling came after Gen. James Mattis took the stand to address a judge's preliminary ruling that there was evidence of unlawful command influence in the case.
Col. John Ewers, the military lawyer who investigated the killings and took Chessani's statement, later became a top legal adviser to Mattis and sat in on briefings that helped Mattis decide who would be charged.
Mattis referred charges against Chessani when he was both commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command and the commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. He has since been promoted and serves as commander of both NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and commander of U.S. Joint Forces. |
