MILITARY: Judge drops obstruction charge in Haditha case mid-trial

1st Lt. Andrew Grayson still faces charges of lying, more

By TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer | Tuesday, June 3, 2008 8:20 PM PDT ∞

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A military judge on Tuesday dismissed a charge that an officer obstructed justice when he told a sergeant to delete photos of two dozen civilians killed by a squad of Camp Pendleton Marines following a roadside bomb attack in Haditha, Iraq.

As 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson looked on, Maj. Brian Kasprzyk told a military jury inside a base courtroom Tuesday morning that it was no longer to consider the obstruction charge.

While Kasprzyk did not tell the jury why the charge was gone, it appears a technicality led to dropping one of the four charges facing Grayson.

The junior officer is fending off accusations related to the aftermath of the killings that occurred Nov. 19, 2005.

An intelligence officer at the time of the killings, Grayson still faces charges that he lied to investigators and fraudulently tried to get out of the Marine Corps after the initial charges were filed. The 27-year-old Ohio native has pleaded not guilty.

Grayson's civilian defense attorney, Joseph Casas, said Kasprzyk dropped the charge because prosecutors failed to allege Grayson knew the Haditha case was the subject of a criminal investigation when he allegedly tried to obstruct justice.

Prosecutors accused Grayson of telling a junior officer to delete photos of the aftermath of the killings. They also said that order came after Grayson learned the Haditha killings were under investigation.

Casas said the investigation Grayson is accused of trying to thwart was not a criminal probe at that time, but rather an administrative look at whether there had been a failure in leadership by officers.

"Lt. Grayson is relieved," Casas said of his clients reaction to the judge's decision to drop the charge.

His court-martial began last week. Closing arguments to the jury ---- made up of seven military officers, all of whom have combat deployments under their belts ---- are tentatively set for Wednesday morning.

In testimony last week, Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner told the jury that Grayson directed him three months after the killings to delete images of the dead that he photographed a few hours after the incident. The dead included two women and several young children.

Laughner, who took the photos as part of his duties, said Grayson's order to destroy the photos came during the early stages of media-sparked military investigations of the killings.

Laughner said he photographed the bodies to help determine if any of the slain were insurgents. He showed them to Grayson on the day of the slayings, he testified, adding he kept the digital photos in case anyone might need them in the future.

But Grayson's attorneys argued ---- and the trial testimony bore out ---- that military policy forbids keeping photos of slain Iraqi civilians if it has been determined they have no intelligence value.

The civilians were killed as the Marine squad sought those responsible for the roadside bombing and shooting at them immediately after the explosion.

In the wake of the Haditha killings, four enlisted Marines were charged with murder. Four officers were charged with failing to fully investigate what happened.

Charges against five of the eight accused have since been dropped, leaving only one of the men involved in the shootings and two officers still facing trial. All of the accused were from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Grayson is the first of the Haditha defendant to have his case reach trial.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.

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