CAMP PENDLETON - The first reports of civilian deaths following a 2005 roadside bombing in the Iraqi city of Haditha seemed to describe a regrettable consequence of combat that did not require further investigation, a Marine general said Thursday.

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"I had no suspicion that a Law of Armed Conflict violation had been committed," Maj. Gen. Richard Huck testified during a hearing at Camp Pendleton for a battalion legal officer, Capt. Randy Stone, who is accused of dereliction of duty for not investigating what would turn out to be 24 deaths. "While the number is big, it is the circumstances of how this was reported."

The rare appearance by a general during the prosecution of a junior officer took place by video link with the Pentagon, where Huck is now assigned.

When the civilians died at the hands of a squad of Camp Pendleton Marines, Huck was heading the 2nd Marine Division in Iraq and in charge of combat forces operating in the volatile Anbar province.

The incident took place Nov. 19, 2005, shortly after a bomb killed a lance corporal and injured two other Marines. Five Iraqi men who drove up just after the bombing were shot and 19 Iraqis inside a group of nearby homes were killed in a subsequent grenade and gunfire attack.

Huck spent more than two hours telling attorneys how he first heard of the deaths and what took place in the following weeks.

The initial report was that 15 civilians had died, a number that was reported in a Marine Corps news release and not corrected for months.

It wasn't until February 2006, when a Time magazine reporter who had interviewed family members asked about the incident, that there was any indication a full-scale investigation might have been required, Huck said.

A 36-year veteran of the Marine Corps, Huck said his staff became aware in late January that a Time reporter was suggesting the Marines went on a rampage after the bombing. The accusations then began getting attention from top commanders in Iraq.

On Feb. 12, Huck said, he went to his chief of staff and top legal aide, Col. R. Gary Sokoloski, and demanded to know what was happening.

"I was highly irritated," Huck said, adding that he asked Sokoloski, "Am I the last guy in this outfit to find out about this?"

By that time, another top commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, was asking Huck what had occurred.

Huck said he responded on Feb. 13 by sending Chiarelli an e-mail in which he said: "I support our account and do not see a necessity for a further investigation."

The defense wanted to call Sokoloski to testify about why he didn't order a probe, but Sokoloski has refused by citing his Fifth Amendment privilege to not be compelled to give testimony.

Stone is one of four officers from the 3rd Battalion accused of dereliction of duty for not sensing something was wrong immediately after the shootings. Three enlisted men from the battalion's Kilo Company are charged with murder in the killings. The victims included five children and two women.

The general said an initial report that 15 civilians had been killed was sent up the chain of command and reached Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq at the time.

Huck said neither Casey nor any other commanders to whom he was reporting in the weeks immediately after the incident said an investigation was warranted.

Stone's attorney, Charles Gittins, said after the general testified that Huck's testimony supports his contention that the 34-year-old native of Maryland is being unfairly prosecuted.

"It established exactly what I have said it would - nobody believed that an investigation was warranted," Gittins said.

Thad Coakley, a former Marine lawyer who helped establish the system that put legal advisers in the field with combat battalions, said Thursday that the appearance by a general to provide sworn testimony shows the seriousness of the Haditha case.

"That fact that a general officer was made available shows that every effort is being made to put all the cards on the table," Coakley said. "We are looking at total transparency."

But Huck's testimony ultimately may not absolve Stone, he said.

"The chain more or less relies on what is going on at the lower level," he said.

The hearing for Stone continues today with other officers expected to testify.

Two of the defendants among the eight Marines charged, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani and Capt. Lucas McConnell, sat through portions of Thursday's proceedings.

Chessani and McConnell also face dereliction of duty charges, with their court proceedings set to take place at Camp Pendleton later this year.

On Wednesday, one of the four enlisted men originally charged, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, testified that the five men who emerged from the car were shot while being held at gunpoint with their hands raised in the air.

Dela Cruz, who had the charges against him dropped last month in exchange for his testimony, said he shot the men numerous times after Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich fired first.

At the conclusion of Stone's hearing, the Marine Corps officer presiding over the court sessions will write a report to Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis stating whether he believes the case should move forward to trial by court-martial.

Stone faces up to two years in prison and a dismissal from the service if convicted.

- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.