Pat Dollard | Young Americans

San Jose Mercury News:

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.—A legal advocacy group that supports Christians has filed motions to dismiss charges against a Marine Corps officer accused of failing to investigate the killing of 24 people by Marines in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005.

The Thomas More Law Center filed five motions in advance of Wednesday’s pretrial hearing for Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani at Camp Pendleton.

Among the motions filed are requests to compel the deposition of U.S. Rep. John Murtha over comments he made about Marines killing “in cold blood” in Haditha and two motions to dismiss all charges against Chessani.

Chessani is the highest-ranking U.S. serviceman to face a combat-related court-martial since the Vietnam War. Chessani has been charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations that he mishandled the aftermath of the Nov. 19, 2005, shooting deaths in Haditha.

Earlier that day, the squad’s convoy was struck by a roadside bomb, killing one Marine and wounding another. In the aftermath, squad members killed 24 Iraqi civilians, authorities have said.

Chessani was commander of the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment that has been the focus of the largest prosecution of U.S. troops in the Iraq war.

The decision to send Chessani to trial came after a hearing officer blasted him for failing to go to the scene of the killings immediately after they occurred.

Chessani has said he never ordered a formal investigation because he believed the deaths resulted from lawful combat.
Chessani, of Rangely, Colo., faces court-martial on April 28. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to three years in prison.

Also expected to face a pre-trial hearing Wednesday is Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., who has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. The charge of voluntary manslaughter includes specifications of a personal role in at least nine killings, naming seven victims plus one or more unknown people, and that he ordered a lance corporal to kill a person.

Wuterich’s court-martial was scheduled to begin March 3.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder in the case, and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Charges against several of the men have been dropped, and none will face murder charges.
A judge has set an April 28 court-martial for 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, on charges of making false official statements, obstruction of justice and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps.