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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (682294)	5/13/2005 11:27:41 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Call to Drop Murder Case Against Marine By JOHN DeSANTIS New York Times Regional Newspapers WILMINGTON, N.C., May 13 - The Marine Corps should drop a murder case against a platoon commander who killed two suspected Iraqi insurgents last year, an officer who presided over a preliminary hearing has concluded. The commander, Second Lt. Ilario Pantano, was faulted by the hearing officer for firing as many as 60 rounds of ammunition during the incident, which he has maintained was a case of self-defense. The hearing officer, Lt. Col. Mark Winn, wrote in a report that Lieutenant Pantano used poor judgment in the incident, but that his behavior did not constitute a crime. "If Second Lieutenant Pantano did indeed feel he was about to be attacked, he was well within the rules of engagement to shoot to eliminate that threat," Colonel Winn wrote. "Though it is my opinion that the charges should be withdrawn, I believe that Second Lieutenant Pantano made serious errors in tactical judgment that helped precipitate these events." The report has been forwarded to Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commander of the Second Marine Division. He is not required to follow the recommendation. Colonel Winn presided over a five-day hearing last month at which one witness, Sgt. Daniel Coburn, said the shooting of the two men was unjustified. The case has angered veterans' groups who have said that it should never have gone as far as a formal hearing. Colonel Winn's report questioned Sergeant Coburn's credibility and motives, suggesting that he had personal grudges against Lieutenant Pantano. The report was sent Friday to defense lawyers and Lieutenant Pantano's mother, who placed it on her Web site, www.defendthedefenders.org. Marine officials confirmed that the report had been issued and that a copy had been sent to the defense. The killings occurred on April 15, 2004, after Lieutenant Pantano directed his platoon to search a house near Mahmudiyah that was suspected of being an insurgent hide-out. The report, culled from hearing testimony, said two Iraqi men tried to leave the area in a white sedan as the marines approached. The car was halted after marines fired at it, and the two men were questioned, then handcuffed while troops searched the house. Two searches of the car by a Navy corpsman revealed no weapons. After Lieutenant Pantano was informed that ammunition and other items including mortar stakes had been found in the house, he ordered the handcuffs taken off the men and then told them with hand signals to search their own auto. As Sergeant Coburn and a Navy corpsman stood watch, facing away from Lieutenant Pantano, he fired his M-16 rifle, felling the two men. He later asserted that they had made a threatening move toward him. The number of rounds fired by Lieutenant Pantano, Colonel Winn wrote, should be addressed with a nonjudicial punishment. A native of Manhattan, Lieutenant Pantano attended the Horace Mann School and served in the Marine Corps in the Persian Gulf war of 1991. He later worked as a trader at Goldman Sachs. He rejoined the Marines after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Lieutenant Pantano's civilian defense lawyer, Charles Gittins, said he was hopeful the case would be withdrawn. Merry Pantano, the marine's mother, said she learned of the recommendations this morning, when her son called her Manhattan home. "From the time we heard these charges were actually preferred on Feb. 1, it has been four months of stress," Ms. Pantano said. "Today is a good day." www.defendthedefenders.org.