Navy defends actions in Haditha probe
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | ∞
NORTH COUNTY -- The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is denying its agents did anything improper when they interrogated Marines in the 2005 slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha.
On Tuesday, attorneys representing a senior officer charged in the case, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, asked Navy Secretary Donald Winter for an investigation based on complaints the agents mistreated Camp Pendleton Marines during interviews conducted in Iraq last year.
Ed Buice, a spokesman for the investigative service, has since issued a written statement to the North County Times denying any improper conduct by the Navy's law enforcement agency.
"Naval Criminal Investigative Service practices are wholly consistent with legal and constitutional requirements and conform to federal law," Buice said in the statement.
Lt. Ryan Perry, a spokesman for Winter's office in Washington, said the complaint from Chessani's attorneys would be examined and that the secretary would have no comment beyond the statement issued by Buice.
The letter sent to Winter's office contends that agents mistreated some of the witnesses and some of those ultimately charged in several ways.
Some of the Marines were subject to questioning for as long as 18 hours and denied anything to eat or drink or use the bathroom, according to Chessani's attorneys.
Other complaints include accusations that the agents yelled and threw things at the Marines and approached the case from the point of view that crimes had been committed.
Chessani is charged with two counts of dereliction of duty and one count of violation of a lawful order for his role in conducting the initial investigation of what occurred in Haditha.
His attorneys say he examined the scene of the killings on the day they took place, Nov. 19, 2005, and again the next day. His report filed with the Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq at the time reflected precisely what he knew, the attorneys say.
A hearing for Chessani is set to take place in a Camp Pendleton courtroom starting in late May. His case will be the first among the seven Haditha defendants to reach court.
Three other officers, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson and Capts. Lucas McConnell and Randy Stone, face similar charges.
Three enlisted men, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lance Cpls. Justin Sharratt and Stephen Tatum face murder charges.
The Marine Corps charged the men from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment on Dec. 21. All the accused maintain they are not guilty.
One of the enlisted men originally charged, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, saw five homicide counts filed against him withdrawn earlier this month in exchange for his testimony during the upcoming court hearings. As many as seven other Marines, including a first lieutenant, also have been granted immunity.
The killings took place after a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee, killing a lance corporal. None of the slain, who included several women and children, was determined to have been an insurgent.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.
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2sides2every wrote on Apr 26, 2007 6:20 AM:Lets wait and see.
Like the avy was really going to do anything! wrote on Apr 26, 2007 7:42 AM:These guys were done before they landed back on US Soil! Only the officers even get a look see. The enlisted are the lambs. The sacrificial lambs!!!
Issac wrote on Apr 26, 2007 8:33 AM:From this point on, anyone sent over to fight in Iraq is a "sacrificial lamb" being sacrificed on the alter of ego and face saving.
from a fellow Marine & Neighbor wrote on Apr 26, 2007 1:31 PM:I am the neighbor of SSgt Wuterich and am appauled that he and his family have to go through this horrible nightmare. These men were only doing their jobs...what they get paid to do....to be Marines...to fight for our freedom. They may have made mistakes along the way but they are NOT murderers! They were sent to Iraq to do a job and they did it. Now they are being punished for doing it. These Marines have families - small children, mothers, fathers. Such a sad and unfortunate situation!!
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Apr 26, 2007 1:42 PM:Of course NCIS denies its agents did anything improper. Since the shoe is on the other foot, how about PROVING it! Why should any military commander, any one from the news media, or any American take the word of an organization that has the power to make decisions that can lead to an innocent losing his life or spending years in prison??? NCIS' is supposedly being investigated. We've been waiting for three months. These agents came to their 'conclusions' after just a few days in the Hmadania case. They did it without proof of their methods. That's an Open Door to Abuse of Power. And now, the Haditha accused are the proud recipients of their "unchecked" methods. If NCIS can't prove its own claims, then there should be no charges, no case. How can you deny the accused the right to presence of counsel and say that you did nothing improper? You CAN'T!!!
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Apr 26, 2007 6:26 PM:Mr.Buice says NCIS' practices are wholly consistent with legal and constitutional requirements and conform to federal law. OMG! Then perhaps Mr.Buice wouldn't mind listing those requirements and how their investigator's practices conformed to federal law. If his statement is true, then he should be proud to share with the American public so as to remove any doubt of impropriety.
Family of Man wrote on Apr 30, 2007 1:34 PM:"These Marines have families - small children, mothers, fathers. Such a sad and unfortunate situation!!" So did the Iraqi civilians, but that didn't stay the hand of our Marines.
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