General's testimony sought at first Haditha hearing

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Sunday, April 29, 2007 8:24 PM PDT ∞

NORTH COUNTY ---- A Marine general who was in Iraq when two dozen civilians were killed in Haditha in 2005 has been asked to testify at a hearing next week for an officer accused of failing to properly investigate the incident.

Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was in charge of troops in Haditha when the civilians died during an assault by a group of Camp Pendleton Marines.

Huck has been asked by the defense to appear during an Article 32 hearing for Capt. Randy W. Stone, 34, who was charged on Dec. 21 with two counts of dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order.

Huck's appearance is expected but has not officially been confirmed.

Stone's lead attorney, Charles Gittins of Middletown, Va., has said Stone should not have been charged with any wrongdoing.

"General Huck did not believe there should have been an investigation, nor did the staff judge advocate for the regiment," Gittins said during a telephone interview from his office in Virginia. "My client was the lowest-level guy, and he reported everything that he had been told."

Gary Solis, a former Marine legal officer who teaches military law at Georgetown University, said Sunday that testimony from Huck could be critical to Stone's case.

"If Gen. Huck explains why he didn't order an investigation, it should help explain why Capt. Stone took the actions he did," Solis said during a telephone interview. "Any time a general is testifying, the hearing officer will pay close attention, particularly because a general seldom appears in court cases for either side."

Stone's hearing will be the first for the four officers and three enlisted men facing criminal charges in the Haditha killings that took place following a roadside bombing that killed a lance corporal the morning of Nov. 19, 2005.

The other officers facing charges similar to those of Stone are Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, Capt. Lucas McConnell and 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson.

The three enlisted defendants who face homicide charges are Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lance Cpls. Justin Sharratt and Stephen Tatum. All the defendants are from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment and were serving under Huck's command.

Gittins said Stone's hearing, which starts a week from Tuesday in a Camp Pendleton courtroom, will last at least four days and will include witnesses he believes will show Stone followed proper procedures.

"There was no requirement that he should have done more," Gittins said. "I don't think the people who made the charging decision thought it through ---- it seems like they just threw everything at a dartboard."

Marine prosecutors are forbidden from commenting on pending cases.

Stone was the battalion's top legal adviser and the charges against him represent the first time a legal officer has been accused of a crime arising out of his handling of a battlefield report.

Presiding over his hearing will be Lt. Col. William Pigott, the top legal affairs officer at the Marine Corps base in Yuma, Ariz.

In addition to Huck, two other Marine officers who were in Iraq when the killings took place are expected to testify. Also expected to testify is Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who was among those charged by the Marine Corps on Dec. 21 but has since been granted immunity.

Dela Cruz was accused of five counts of unpremeditated murder, but those charges were dropped earlier this month in exchange for his testimony about the incident.

At least eight Marines who were part of the assault team or in the chain of command have been granted immunity in the case, a step by prosecutors to ensure their testimony at the upcoming hearings.

An Army general who headed an exhaustive review of the actions of Marine commanders in the wake of the Haditha killings faulted Huck and others.

"All levels of command tended to view civilian casualties, even in significant numbers, as routine and as the natural and intended result of insurgent tactics," the report from Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell said. "Statements made by the chain of command during interviews for this investigation, taken as a whole, suggest that Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as U.S. lives, their deaths are just the cost of doing business, and that the Marines need to get 'the job done' no matter what it takes."

On the day in question, according to reports, five men emerged from a car that drove up minutes after the bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. They were shot by the enlisted men, who subsequently targeted a series of homes from which they believed insurgents were firing. That action resulted in 19 additional deaths, including several women and children.

Stone, a native of Dunkirk, Md., is currently assigned to work on manpower reserve issues for Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C. He has two appointed military attorneys in addition to Gittins, who is a former Marine Corps legal officer.

At the conclusion of his hearing, Pigott will write a report to Lt. Gen. James Mattis on whether he believes Stone should be ordered to court-martial or subject to some other action which could include dismissal.

Mattis is the convening authority over the case as head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East.

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