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History > 2006 > USA > Military justice (IV-VI)
8 Marines Charged With Iraq Murders
December 23, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:04 a.m. ET
The New York Times
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) -- With eight Marines charged
in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians, the Marine Corps sent a
clear message to its officers: They will be held accountable for the actions of
their subordinates.
In the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the
Iraq war, four of the Marines -- all enlisted men -- were charged Thursday with
unpremeditated murder.
But the remaining four Marines in the case are officers, the highest ranking
among them a lieutenant colonel. They were charged with dereliction of duty for
failing to report or properly investigate the killings in the Iraqi town of
Haditha last year.
The case marks the largest number of U.S. officers to be charged in an alleged
crime since the start of the Iraq war, said John Hutson, a former Navy judge
advocate general.
''The honorable thing is not to 'protect' your subordinates,'' said Hutson, who
is now president of New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce Law Center. ''The honorable
thing is to look above that and realize they have a greater responsibility to
the Marine Corps and military justice system.''
Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, 42, of Rangely, Colo., was charged with failing to
accurately report and thoroughly investigate a possible violation and
dereliction of duty. He could face dismissal and up to two years in prison.
Hutson said officers play an integral role in the way crimes are reported and
how military justice is handled. He said if the officers did fail to properly
investigate the deaths, their failures were more enduring ''than these guys who
allegedly murdered people.''
Besides Chessani, officers charged in connection with how the incident was
investigated or reported included 1st Lt. Andrew A. Grayson, 25; Capt. Lucas
McConnell, 31, of Napa, Calif., and Capt. Randy W. Stone, 34, a military
attorney.
The charges followed an investigation into Iraqi allegations that Marines went
on a rampage after one of their own was killed by a bomb.
Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, was charged with the unpremeditated murder of
12 people, and the murder of six others by ordering Marines about to enter a
house to ''shoot first and ask questions later,'' according to court papers
released by his attorney, Neal Puckett. He faces the possibility of life in
prison if convicted.
Puckett said his client carried out the killings in accordance with his
training.
''There's no question that innocent people died that day, but Staff Sergeant
Wuterich believes, and I believe, they did everything they were trained to do,''
he said.
Wuterich was also charged with making a false official statement and soliciting
another sergeant to make false official statements.
Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, 24, of Chicago, was accused of the unpremeditated
murders of five people and making a false official statement with intent to
deceive.
Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., was accused of the
unpremeditated murder of three Iraqis. Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, 25, of
Edmund, Okla., was charged with the unpremeditated murders of two Iraqis,
negligent homicide of four Iraqi civilians and a charge of assault upon two
Iraqis.
The Marines, who are based at Camp Pendleton, have been under investigation
since March. None will be placed in pretrial confinement, because they are not
deemed a flight risk or a danger to themselves or others, said Col. Stewart
Navarre, chief of staff for Marine Corps Installations West.
The Iraqis were killed in the hours following a roadside bomb that rocked a
Marine patrol on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005. The blast killed Lance Cpl.
Miguel Terrazas of El Paso, Texas, and injured two others. The Marine Corps said
again Thursday that insurgents fired guns after the blast.
In the aftermath, five men were shot as they approached the scene in a taxi and
others -- including women and children -- died as Marines went house to house in
the area, clearing homes with grenades and gunfire.
Terrazas' father denounced the charges.
''What they are doing to our troops ... it's just wrong,'' he told The
Associated Press in Texas. ''I feel for their families. They are in my
prayers.''
Defense attorneys have said their clients were doing what they had been trained
to do: respond to a perceived threat with legitimate force. The Marines remained
in combat for months after the killings.
A criminal probe was launched after Time magazine reported in March, citing
survivor accounts and human rights groups, that innocent people were killed.
The Marine Corps initially reported that 15 Iraqis died in a roadside bomb
blast, and Marines killed eight insurgents in an ensuing fire fight. That
account was widely discredited and later reports put the number of dead Iraqis
at 24.
Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general of the Marine Corps Central Command,
said Thursday that the Corps' initial news release, which said the civilians in
Haditha had been killed by an improvised explosive device, was incorrect.
''We now know with certainty that the press release was incorrect, and that none
of the civilians were killed by the IED explosion,'' Mattis said in another
release.
------
On the Net:
Marine Corps Iraq Investigations:
http://www.usmc.mil/lapa/iraq-investigations.htm
------
Associated Press writers Allison Hoffman at Camp Pendleton, Alicia Caldwell in
El Paso, Texas, and Saad Abdul Kadir in Baghdad contributed to this report.
8 Marines Charged
With Iraq Murders, NYT, 23.12.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Marines-Haditha.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Marines Charge 4 With Murder of Iraq Civilians
December 22, 2006
The New York Times
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER and CAROLYN MARSHALL
Four marines were charged yesterday with murder in the
killings of two dozen Iraqi civilians, including at least 10 women and children,
in the village of Haditha last year, military officials said at Camp Pendleton,
Calif.
Military prosecutors also charged four officers, including a lieutenant colonel
in charge of the First Marine Regiment’s Third Battalion, with dereliction of
duty and failure to ensure that accurate information about the killings was
delivered up the Marine Corps’ chain of command. A military investigation has
found evidence that Marine officers may have obscured certain facts in the case.
The Marines could punish other ranking officers administratively in weeks to
come. But the criminal charges filed yesterday against Lt. Col. Jeffrey R.
Chessani, 42, and three other officers reflect an unusually aggressive judicial
reaction by military prosecutors to a massacre that has damaged the military’s
credibility with Iraqi officials and civilians, military justice experts said.
“This is very aggressive charging — wow,” said Gary Solis, who teaches the law
of war at Georgetown University Law Center and at West Point. “I think this
illustrates the deep seriousness the Marine Corps takes with these events.”
He added, “I definitely think the Marine Corps is sending a message to
commanders, to those in authority of combat troops, that they better pay close
attention to the activities of their subordinates to ensure that there was no
wrongdoing.”
Though this was not the first instance of American forces being charged with
killing Iraqi civilians, the charges announced yesterday, including 13 counts of
murder against one sergeant alone, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 26, suggest that
military prosecutors view the Haditha killings as being among the most serious
breaches of military rules in the nearly four-year war. The charges are a result
of two military investigations into the actions of members of Company K, Third
Battalion, First Marine Regiment after a roadside bomb killed one of their
comrades shortly after 7 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha, a village in a
region northwest of Baghdad that is rife with Sunni Arab insurgents.
A total of 24 Iraqis, nearly all of them unarmed, were killed by several marines
in a series of attacks on a car and three nearby homes over the next several
hours, military officials said.
The four enlisted men charged with unpremeditated murder, all members of a squad
of Company K, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, are: Sergeant Wuterich of
Meriden, Conn.; Sgt. Sanick De La Cruz, 24, of Chicago; Lance Cpl. Justin L.
Sharratt, 22, of Carbondale, Pa.; and Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, 25, of
Edmund, Okla.
Sergeant Wuterich and Sergeant De La Cruz confronted five military-age men — a
taxi driver and four college students — after marines frantically ordered the
vehicle to stop, about 100 yards from the stalled Marine convoy of four Humvees.
The two marines were each charged with murder in connection with the deaths of
all five men after ordering them out of the taxi, Marine officials said.
Several marines then attacked a home nearby, killing several family members
inside, military officials and defense lawyers said. Sergeant Wuterich is
charged with killing six people in the house. Lance Corporal Tatum is charged
with negligent homicide in the deaths of four people, including an elderly man
in a wheelchair in that house.
Thinking they were under fire and believing they were pursuing attackers from
the first home, squad members proceeded to a second home, defense lawyers said.
Sergeant Wuterich is charged with killing six people in that house: two adults
and four children, including three who were 4, 6 and 11 years old.
Lance Corporal Tatum is charged with killing two children in the second house: a
15-year-old boy and a girl who was about 6 years old.
At least two hours later, squad members attacked people in a third home nearby,
where one AK-47 was found later, military officials and defense lawyers have
said. Sergeant Wuterich is charged with killing the first person in that house.
Lance Corporal Sharratt is charged with killing three brothers who rushed to the
home to inquire what was happening, military officials have said. They were shot
with an M9 service pistol.
In all, Sergeant Wuterich was charged with 13 counts of murder in connection
with the deaths of 18 people, who were killed with an M4 service rifle; falsely
telling an investigator that the men from the taxi had fired at the convoy; and
urging Sergeant De La Cruz to report that those men had been killed by Iraqi
Army soldiers at the scene.
Lance Corporal Sharratt was charged with three counts of murder, and Lance
Corporal Tatum was charged with murder in the death of two Iraqis, negligent
homicide in the deaths of four others, and assault.
The lawyers for all four enlisted men declared their clients’ innocence, arguing
in separate statements after the charges that the killings were an unfortunate
result of marines properly responding to an insurgent attack in a dangerous
area. Sergeant Wuterich and his men “did everything they were supposed to do
that day to protect themselves,” said his lawyer, Neal A. Puckett.
In addition to Colonel Chessani, prosecutors charged two captains and a first
lieutenant with either covering up or failing to discover and pass along certain
facts about the killings. “The reporting of the incident up the chain of command
was inaccurate and untimely,” Col. Stewart Navarre said at a news conference at
Camp Pendleton.
Capt. Lucas M. McConnell, 31, the Company K commander, was charged with
dereliction of duty for willfully failing to ensure a thorough investigation;
Capt. Randy W. Stone, 34, a military lawyer for the Third Battalion, was charged
with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate suspected violations.
A Marine intelligence officer who was part of a team that photographed the
aftermath of the killings, Andrew A. Grayson, 25, was charged with dereliction
of duty, failure to ensure a thorough investigation, making a false official
statement and obstruction of justice.
The murder charges against the four enlisted marines are punishable by a maximum
of life in prison and dishonorable discharge, the Marines said. The charges
filed against the four officers carry significantly less potential prison time —
two years for Colonel Chessani and Captain Stone; six months for Captain
McConnell; and more than 10 years for Lieutenant Grayson — as well as the
prospect of dismissal and forfeiture of pay.
Kevin B. McDermott, a civilian lawyer for Captain McConnell, said his client had
reported what he knew of the Haditha episode to superiors and was not guilty of
any crime. Colonel Chessani, Captain Stone and Lieutenant Grayson could not be
reached for comment yesterday afternoon.
None of the eight marines charged entered a plea yesterday. Formal reviews,
known as Article 32 hearings, to determine whether the charges warrant
court-martial, could begin next month, said Mr. Solis, the teacher of the law of
war.
Prosecutors may use the hearings to lay out some of the evidence collected by
two military investigations — one into the killings themselves, and a second
into the Marines’ investigation of them — and other physical evidence. That
evidence is likely to include detailed photographs of the dead taken by
Lieutenant Grayson’s intelligence unit after the killings; a videotape made by
an Iraqi man shortly after the killings that shows blood-spattered walls inside
several homes and statements from children who survived the assault; and a
surveillance video from a military drone that flew over the scene after the
attack.
Archie Tse contributed reporting.
Marines Charge 4
With Murder of Iraq Civilians, NYT, 22.12.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/world/middleeast/22haditha.html?hp&ex=1166850000&en=eef96788002f07ff&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Iraq Veteran Won't Face Death Penalty
December 14, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:56 a.m. ET
The New York Times
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -- An Army soldier showed no signs
of relief as the Army dropped the death penalty as a possible sentence if he is
convicted of rape and murder in the deaths of 14-year-old girl and three others
in Iraq.
Instead, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, 22, sat rigid next to his military attorney and
responded with abrupt answers when the charges he faces were read during an
arraignment hearing Wednesday.
Spielman now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if
convicted in the March 12 attack, said Maj. Don Lobeda, an attorney with the
101st Airborne Division.
Investigators said the soldiers planned the attack for weeks and tried to burn
the girl's body to destroy evidence of the assault. Three others in her family,
including the girl's younger sister, were shot to death in the family's home in
Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad.
The killings were considered among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on
civilians and other abuses by U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
Spielman's attorneys expressed confidence they could prove his innocence.
''We look forward to trial and proving that Jesse was not involved in rape and
murder,'' attorney Craig Carlson, who leads Spielman's defense team, told The
Associated Press by telephone.
A trial date of April 2 was set.
Nancy Hess, Spielman's grandmother, sat quietly in the courtroom during the
proceedings.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Hess said she remained convinced the
grandson she raised had nothing to do with the attack. She said Spielman is
hopeful a court-martial will show he is innocent.
''He'd love nothing more than to walk out of the courtroom innocent and remain
in the military. That's his dream,'' Hess said. ''I know he's innocent. He's not
capable of acts like this.''
The military is preparing to court-martial other soldiers charged in the attack.
Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, is the only soldier now facing possible execution if
convicted. Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 19, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison
if convicted in a court-martial set for next year. Both Howard and Cortez
deferred entering pleas during their arraignments earlier this fall.
Spc. James P. Barker, 23, pleaded guilty to rape and murder last month as part
of an agreement to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to 90 years in
prison and is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
In a court hearing last month, Barker did not name Spielman and Howard as
participants in the rape and murders but said Spielman was at the house when the
assault took place and had come knowing what the others intended to do.
Prosecutors allege that Howard was at a checkpoint monitoring the radio and knew
what the others were planning. Another person, former Pfc. Steven Green, has
pleaded not guilty in federal court to rape and murder charges.
Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty against
Green, who was discharged from the Army for a ''personality disorder.''
The soldiers belonged to the 502nd Infantry Regiment, which completed a yearlong
deployment to Iraq in November.
Iraq Veteran Won't
Face Death Penalty, NYT, 14.12.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Iraq-Rape-Slaying.html
At Least 5 Marines Are Expected to Be Charged in Haditha
Deaths
December 6, 2006
The New York Times
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 — At least five marines are expected to
be charged, possibly as early as Wednesday, with the killing of 24 Iraqis, many
of them unarmed women and children, in the village of Haditha in November 2005,
according to a Marine official and a lawyer involved in the case.
The charges are expected to range from negligent homicide to murder, said a
senior Pentagon official familiar with the military’s nearly nine-month
investigation into the episode. Several marines from the Third Platoon of
Company K, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, are accused of killing the
villagers after a roadside explosion killed one of their comrades.
Charges could also be brought against an additional one or two marines, the
Marine official said, including one officer who was in the vicinity of the
killings but did not participate in them.
Though it was nearly certain that marines would be charged with crimes for the
killings, exactly when the charges would be made official was unclear, military
officials and defense lawyers involved in the case said. But they said charges
could closely follow a closed-door briefing by Lt. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, the
Marine Corps deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations, to the House
Armed Services Committee on Wednesday morning.
That briefing will relate the findings of a military inquiry into how the Marine
Corps managed its investigation of the slayings, which began with an inquiry in
March, four months after the killings occurred, the Pentagon official said.
Aides to committee members said Marine officials promised a confidential
briefing before any charges were announced.
According to the Marine official and the defense lawyer representing one of the
marines under investigation, criminal charges will be filed against Staff Sgt.
Frank D. Wuterich, 26, of Meriden, Conn., the squad’s leader; Lance Cpl. Stephen
Tatum, 25, of Edmund, Okla.; Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 21, of Carbondale,
Penn.; Cpl. Sanick Dela Cruz, 24, of Chicago; and Cpl. Hector Salinas, 22, of
Houston.
The five marines are said to have been the ones who killed the 24 Iraqis,
including five men in a taxi that approached the marines’ convoy after the
explosion that killed a 20-year-old lance corporal and 19 other civilians in
several houses nearby. About 10 of the dead were women and children who appeared
to have been killed by rifle fire at close range, military officials said.
The marines have said they believed that they were coming under small-arms fire
from a house on the south side of the road.
Jack Zimmermann, a lawyer for Lance Corporal Tatum, said his client had
responded appropriately to a lethal attack in a dangerous region of Iraq. “There
was no crime committed,” Mr. Zimmermann said.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer representing Sergeant Wuterich, said his client acted in
accordance with military rules of engagement.
“We emphatically deny that Staff Sergeant Wuterich participated in any unlawful
killings that day in Haditha,” Mr. Zaid said. “The collateral civilian deaths
were absolutely tragic, but occurred as a result of legally justified actions
that routinely occur during time of war.”
Lawyers for the other three enlisted marines declined to comment.
The senior Pentagon official said no other marines would face charges in the
case. “The only people who will be charged with an offense will be those
individuals who did the shootings,” the official said last week.
But the Marine officer, interviewed on Tuesday, said he expected charges to be
brought against one or two additional marines, including one officer.
“I don’t see just five of them being charged,” the official said. “I see six or
seven. One of them, I see, is an officer.”
That officer, the Marine official said, was First Lt. William T. Kallop, 25, the
only officer at the scene, who arrived sometime after the initial explosion that
led to the marines’ sweep of the nearby homes.
A lawyer for Lieutenant Kallop declined to comment Tuesday.
David S. Cloud contributed reporting.
At Least 5 Marines
Are Expected to Be Charged in Haditha Deaths, NYT, 6.12.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/washington/06haditha.html
Military Plans to Build Compound for Trials
November 18, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The New York Times
SAN JUAN, P.R., Nov. 17 (AP) — The military said on Friday
that it planned to build a $125 million compound at the Guantánamo Bay Naval
Base in Cuba where it hopes to hold war-crimes trials for terrorism suspects by
the middle of next year.
The compound, designed to accommodate as many as 1,200 people, would include
dining areas, work spaces and sleeping accommodations for administrative
personnel, lawyers, journalists and others involved in trials. It would create
three courtrooms to allow for simultaneous trials, and a separate high-security
area to house those on trial.
“We need to build more courtrooms, and we want to do multiple trials,” said Lt.
Cmdr. Chito Peppler, a Pentagon spokesman.
The government hoped to begin construction as soon as possible to be ready for
trials no later than July 1, Commander Peppler said.
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International U.S.A., described the
proposed compound as “a permanent homage to its failed experiment in
second-class justice.”
The project, which has not yet been submitted for Congressional approval,
represents one of the largest upgrades to the detention center since it began
taking in detainees in January 2002.
Plans for the compound are in a “presolicitation notice,” dated Nov. 3 and
posted on the Internet for potential government contractors. It was first
reported by The Miami Herald.
Military Plans to
Build Compound for Trials, NYT, 18.11.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/washington/18gitmo.html
11am
Iraq rape soldier given life sentence
Friday November 17, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Staff and agencies
A US soldier has been sentenced to 90 years in prison for
conspiring to rape a 14-year-old Iraqi and kill her and her family.
Specialist James Barker was yesterday told he must serve 20
years before he could be considered for parole.
The 23-year-old - one of four US soldiers accused over the rape and killings -
pleaded guilty and agreed to give evidence against the others to avoid the death
penalty.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Anderson, the military judge presiding over the case
at a military court in Kentucky, told Barker: "This court sentences you to be
confined for the length of your natural life, with the eligibility of parole."
The rape of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killings happened in Mahmoudiya, a
village around 20 miles south of Baghdad. They are among the worst in a series
of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.
Barker told investigators that, on March 12 this year, the soldiers - from the
101st Airborne Division - drank whiskey mixed with an energy drink and played
cards as they planned the attack on the girl and her family.
He said that he, former Private Steven Green and another soldier, Sergeant Paul
Cortez, had taken turns to rape the girl, and said Mr Green shot her, her
parents and her six-year-old sister.
Mr Green, charged in a civilian court with rape and murder, has pleaded not
guilty. Sgt Cortez, charged with rape and murder, has deferred entering a plea.
On Wednesday, Barker confessed to the crimes as part of a plea agreement
requiring him to give evidence against the other accused. He showed no reaction
when his sentence was read out yesterday.
Earlier, he had wept during his closing statement. He accepted responsibility
for the rape and killings, saying the violence he had encountered in Iraq left
him "angry and mean" towards Iraqis.
"I want the people of Iraq to know that I did not go there to do the terrible
things that I did," Barker said. "I do not ask anyone to forgive me today.
"To live there, to survive there, I became angry and mean. I loved my friends,
my fellow soldiers and my leaders, but I began to hate everyone else in Iraq."
After Barker's sentencing, military prosecutors declined to comment because
three other soldiers have yet to be tried in the case. The sentence, which is
subject to review by a higher military authority, could be reduced.
During evidence intended to show the judge that Barker could be rehabilitated,
his fellow soldiers described weeks with little support and sleep as they manned
checkpoints.
Captain William Fischbach, the lead prosecutor, told the court that such
conditions were no excuse for Barker, who led the group of soldiers to the
family's house, and said no one deserved to suffer the horrors inflicted on the
teenage girl and her family.
"This ... 14-year-old girl never fired bullets or lobbed mortars," Capt
Fischbach said as he held photographs of the victims. "Society should not have
to bear the risk of the accused among them ever again."
The defendants are accused of burning the girl's body to conceal the crime.
Authorities had believed the family had been killed by insurgents until a member
of the military unit involved came forward.
Mr Green's involvement has raised questions about the army's recruiting
procedures in an increasingly unpopular war that has killed nearly 3,000 US
troops.
He entered the army soon after being arrested for underage drinking, and had a
record of alcohol and drug abuse.
To make up for a recruitment shortfall, the army has begun accepting a higher
number of "category four" candidates who score low on a military aptitude test.
The charges:
Specialist James Barker
Convicted of rape and murder.
Sergeant Paul Cortez
Charged with rape and murder. Deferred entering a plea; trial date yet to be
set. Could face death penalty.
Private Jesse Spielman
Charged with rape and murder. Barker did not name Pte Spielman as a participant
in the rape and murders, but said he had been at the house when the assault took
place and had come knowing what the others intended to do. Pte Spielman is to be
brought before a court in December, and could face the death penalty.
Private Bryan Howard
Charged with rape and murder. Barker did not say Pte Howard was a participant in
the rape and murders. Prosecutors yesterday said Pte Howard had been left behind
at a checkpoint. He is yet to enter a plea, and is not facing the death penalty.
Former private Steven Green
Charged in a civilian court with murder and sexual assault, and has pleaded not
guilty. He was discharged from the army before the charges. It is unclear
whether the death penalty would apply.
Iraq rape soldier
given life sentence, G, 17.11.2006,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1950563,00.html
Marine gets 18 months in Iraqi's death
Updated 11/15/2006 10:01 PM ET
AP
USA Today
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A Marine private who pleaded
guilty to reduced charges in the killing of an innocent Iraqi civilian was
sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in custody.
"You have a very fortuitous pretrial agreement," the judge,
Lt. Col. David Jones, told Pfc. John J. Jodka III.
Jodka III was part of a squad of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman accused of
kidnapping 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the town of Hamdania, taking him
to a roadside hole, shooting him and then trying to cover up the incident.
The military judge wanted to hand down a five-year punishment, but was bound by
the terms of the plea deal. Prosecutors had sought 11 years.
As part of a plea deal, Jodka pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to charges of assault and
conspiracy to obstruct justice, and prosecutors dropped other charges including
murder and kidnapping. The deal required Jodka to testify. The judge said that
if Jodka cooperates, he can receive a general discharge.
"I decided to plead guilty because in the end it was the right thing to do,"
Jodka said. "I had to weigh in myself the need for truth as opposed to the
loyalty to the squad I had bonded with in Iraq."
The judge ruled after reviewing evidence including a video, made by the squad
two days after the killing, in which the 20-year-old private participated in
profane jokes about killing more people and car bombers.
The video showed Jodka and others atop a personnel carrier, possibly at dawn. It
is not clear who is speaking at specific times.
A voice that appears to be the camera operator's says, "J.J., say what you
know," and then, "You gonna kill some more (expletive) today?"
"Yeah," is the answer, apparently by Jodka.
Jodka earlier apologized to Awad's family, to his own family and to "my Marine
Corps whose highest ideals I have failed to uphold."
Prosecutors say the troops intended to kidnap a known insurgent, but when they
couldn't find him they seized Awad instead.
Under questioning by his civilian attorney, Jane Siegel, Jodka said he thought
the man who was shot on the night of April 26 was a known insurgent. Asked if he
would have fired had he known the man was not, Jodka replied: "Absolutely not."
Jodka described how, as the youngest and lowest ranking member of the squad, he
looked up to fire team leader Cpl. Trent Thomas and squad leader Sgt. Lawrence
Hutchins III for guidance and advice while in combat.
He said he had received little counterinsurgency training and said his squad's
Arabic language interpreter had quit, leaving them unable to communicate with
Iraqis.
Jodka was the first Marine in the case to get a plea deal. The Navy corpsman and
two other Marines also have made plea agreements. The corpsman, Petty Officer
3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, was sentenced to 10 years in prison but will only
serve one because of his plea agreement.
Jodka's mother, Carolyn Jodka, testified about the anguish of seeing her son
brought to her in the brig in shackles, and asked the judge to consider her
son's youth when sentencing him.
"I know this will shape his life," she said. "I hope it doesn't define his
life."
Pfc. John J. Jodka III was part of a squad of seven Marines
and a Navy corpsman accused of kidnapping a man in the town of Hamdania, west of
Baghdad, taking him to a roadside hole and shooting him, then trying to cover up
the killing.
Jodka, 20, pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice
and agreed to testify. In exchange, prosecutors dropped other charges including
murder.
Speaking in a firm voice, Jodka said he was sorry for the pain and suffering he
caused the family of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad, and for the troubles he
caused his own family.
"Thirdly, I apologize to my Marine Corps whose highest ideals I have failed to
uphold," Jodka said.
A prison term established in the pretrial agreement had not yet been revealed.
In this process the judge does not know the terms of the deal. If sentenced by
the judge to a longer term, Jodka would not be liable to serve the extra time.
Prosecutors say the troops intended to kidnap a known insurgent, but when they
couldn't find him they seized Awad instead.
Under questioning by his civilian attorney, Jane Siegel, Jodka said he thought
the man who was shot on the night of April 26 was a known insurgent. Asked if he
would have fired had he known the man was not, Jodka replied: "absolutely not."
Jodka described how, as the youngest and lowest ranking member of the squad, he
looked up to fire team leader Cpl. Trent Thomas and squad leader Sgt. Lawrence
Hutchins III for guidance and advice while in combat.
He said he had received little counterinsurgency training and said his squad's
Arabic language interpreter had quit, leaving them unable to communicate with
Iraqis.
The Navy corpsman and two other Marines also have made plea agreements. The
corpsman, Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, was sentenced to 10 years in
prison but will only serve one because of his plea agreement.
Marine gets 18
months in Iraqi's death, UT, 15.11.2006,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-15-jodka_x.htm
'Fragging' Case Heads to Military Court
November 3, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:43 a.m. ET
The New York Times
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- When Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez
appears in court, it likely will take less than an hour for a military judge to
complete the arraignment of the only soldier known to be charged with
''fragging'' -- or killing his superior officer -- during the Iraq war.
The brevity of the hearing does not matter to the widows of Capt. Phillip
Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis Allen. They planned to be at North Carolina's Fort
Bragg on Friday, having driven hundreds of miles to face Martinez.
''My husband started the process of holding Martinez accountable for his actions
and I'm going to finish it for him,'' Barbara Allen said. ''Every time he walks
into a courtroom, he needs to walk past me.''
Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y., was Martinez's company commander in the 42nd
Infantry Division of the New York National Guard. Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa.,
was the company's operations officer.
Allen said her husband was working with Esposito to stop black market sales of
military equipment when the men were wounded on June 7, 2005, by grenades and a
mine that exploded in Esposito's room at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.
The men died the next day at a base near Tikrit.
An Army captain testified at a hearing last year in Kuwait that Martinez, 39, of
Troy, N.Y., twice told him he hated Esposito and was going to ''frag'' him,
using the Vietnam War term that refers to a soldier killing a superior.
Martinez is also charged with illegally giving government printers to an Iraqi,
who has testified that he sold them for about $800, and failing to obey orders
prohibiting possession of a private firearm, alcohol and explosives.
He faces a possible death sentence if found guilty of the killings.
''It's not forgotten,'' said Barbara Allen, who is raising the couple's four
young sons. ''I need to see for myself that things are being done.''
Siobhan Esposito, who has a 3-year-old daughter, said she wants to attend the
hearing to ''demand our leaders to require higher standards for those that are
allowed to wear the uniform because they represent who we are as a country.''
The case is the only known incident of ''fragging'' during the war in Iraq, said
Col. Billy Buckner, a spokesman for the Army's 18th Airborne Corps.
There has been at least one other case of a soldier killing fellow Americans
during the war. Last year, a jury at Fort Bragg sentenced 101st Airborne
Division Sgt. Hasan Akbar to death for killing two officers and wounding 14
soldiers in a March 2003 attack during which he threw grenades into troop tents
and fired on soldiers.
Akbar, the first soldier tried for killing another soldier in wartime since the
Vietnam era, said he was upset that American troops would kill fellow Muslims.
Military lawyers declined to comment on the Martinez case, as did officials with
the New York National Guard. No one answered at a telephone listing for
Martinez.
''I feel as a country we cannot be indifferent to what happened,'' Siobhan
Esposito said. ''We need to make sure that this horrific crime never ever
happens again.''
'Fragging' Case
Heads to Military Court, NYT, 3.11.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Iraq-Officers-Killed.html
3rd U.S. Marine to plead guilty in Iraqi death
Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:14 PM ET
Reuters
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A third U.S. soldier accused in the
kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania has reached a plea deal
to reduced charges, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, a Marine based at Camp Pendleton, California, will
enter his plea next week but his lawyer Thomas Watt would not specify the
reduced charges nor say whether the agreement includes testifying against the
remaining five defendants.
Military prosecutors allege that the seven Marines and a Navy medic shot to
death Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, in Hamdania in April and put his body near a
shovel and a rifle in a bid to make it look as if he was an insurgent.
Another Marine and a Navy medic already have pleaded guilty to reduced charges
and have testified during a court martial against others in the group. They have
yet to be sentenced.
Awad's murder in the middle of the night in Hamdania was one in a series of
incidents in which the conduct of American troops in Iraq further damaged the
image of the United States in a war that has been widely criticized around the
world.
Other Camp Pendleton-based Marines are under investigation in a separate
incident in November 2005 in which 24 civilians were killed in the Iraqi town of
Haditha.
3rd U.S. Marine to
plead guilty in Iraqi death, R, 31.10.2006,
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-11-01T001403Z_01_N31224107_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-MARINE.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L3-U.S.+NewsNews-3
Marine Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Iraqi
October 27, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:05 a.m. ET
The New York Times
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) -- A Marine pleaded guilty
Thursday to charges of assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in the death
of an Iraqi civilian, telling a judge he knew his actions would fuel anti-war
sentiment.
''Anything like this would present an argument against the war,'' Pfc. John J.
Jodka III said at his court-martial.
The military judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, interrupted him and said, ''I'm not
interested in political implications.''
The judge had asked Jodka to say whether he thought his actions reflected badly
on the Marine Corps, and Jodka said he believed they did. His mother, father,
grandfather and other relatives watched as he spoke.
Jodka was one of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman initially charged with
murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, assault and housebreaking in the killing of
52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the Iraqi town of Hamdania last April. The
other charges against Jodka were dismissed.
The pale, 20-year-old Marine -- the squad's youngest and lowest-ranking member
-- calmly recounted the pre-dawn slaying last April.
Jodka said the squad agreed to a play by squad leader Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins
to kidnap and kill a known insurgent. He said he ran with others into the
darkness, shooting at a figure they could barely see, and found out only later
that it was the wrong target.
''Do you believe you had any legal justification for doing this?'' the judge
asked. ''No, sir,'' Jodka said.
The Navy corpsman charged in the case, Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos,
pleaded guilty this month to kidnapping and conspiracy and was sentenced to a
year's confinement. Murder and other charges were dropped.
At his court-martial, Bacos said Awad was bound and dragged from his home with a
gag in his mouth, then placed in a hole by the side of the road and shot 10
times.
Jodka said he did not see Awad being dragged from the home. He said four squad
members were dispatched first to locate the man they were seeking and later
heard a squad member telling Hutchins: ''We've got him and he's in the hole.''
At that point, Jodka said, ''Hutchins ordered everyone to get in position and
fire across the road.'' He said Hutchins then ordered them to gather the body
and a shovel, put them in a body bag and take them to Iraqi police.
Hutchins then led the squad to a nearby roof.
''Once on the roof, Sgt. Hutchins gathered members of the squad and he said if
anyone asks what happened, the words he used were, 'You know what to say.' I
took that to mean if anyone asked, we would say that we had seen this man
approach with a shovel and begin digging and that he engaged us and that we had
lawfully engaged him,'' Jodka said.
The judge set sentencing for Nov. 15. The maximum punishment is 15 years in
prison, reduction in rank, forfeiture of all payments while in the brig, a
dishonorable discharge and a fine. He has already served 169 days in the brig.
The Marine's father, John Jodka Jr., said, ''I'm as proud of my son today as the
day he entered the Marines. He stood up like a Marine.''
Five other Marines face courts-martial. A decision has not yet been announced on
whether Hutchins will be referred to a court-martial. Hutchins' attorney, Rich
Brannon, has said he did not believe Hutchins did anything wrong.
Associated Press writer Thomas Watkins contributed to this
report.
Marine Pleads
Guilty to Assaulting Iraqi, NYT, 27.10.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Marines-Iraq-Shooting.html
Plea deal reached in Iraqi murder case
Updated 10/21/2006 12:31 AM ET
AP
USA Today
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Camp Pendleton Marine will plead guilty
next week for his role in the killing of an Iraqi civilian last April, his
attorney said Friday.
Pfc. John Jodka, 20, of Encinitas, would be the first
Marine to plead guilty in the case, in which six other Marines and one Navy
corpsman were also charged with murder.
Jodka will plead guilty to assault and obstruction of justice, his father, John
Jodka, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. The elder Jodka said
murder, kidnapping and other charges would be dropped in exchange for the plea,
but later said it was premature to discuss details of the arrangement.
Attorney Joseph Casas, who represents Jodka, said he could not disclose details
of the negotiations but said the deal was "in the best interests of my client
and the best interests of justice and the best interests of the Marine Corps."
Casas said Jodka would testify at his court-martial and that sentencing was not
expected until Nov. 15.
"J.J. will have his chance to talk about his account of what happened in
Hamdania," Casas said, adding he would be calling witnesses during the court
appearance.
Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said it would be inappropriate to
discuss any potential negotiations between the government and the defense.
The eight troops were charged in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the town of
Hamdania, west of Baghdad. As part of a separate plea negotiation, the corpsman
recently testified about what he remembers from the incident.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson Bacos, who was on patrol with the Marines,
pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to kidnapping and conspiracy under a deal with
prosecutors.
Bacos said the squad entered Hamdania on April 26 while searching for a known
insurgent who had been captured three times, then released. The group approached
a house where the insurgent was believed to be hiding, but when someone inside
woke up, the Marines instead went to another home and grabbed Awad.
Bacos said the squad took him to a roadside hole and shot him before planting a
shovel and AK-47 to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a bomb. Bacos
was sent to 12 months confinement; murder and other charges against him were
dropped.
Still in the brig at Camp Pendleton are Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, Cpl. Trent
Thomas, Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, Lance Cpl. Tyler
Jackson and Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate. Bacos and Jodka were moved to a separate
brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar earlier this month to ensure their
safety, attorneys said.
Plea deal reached
in Iraqi murder case, UT, 21.10.2006,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-20-marines-shooting_x.htm
Editorial
A Dangerous New Order
October 19, 2006
The New York Times
Once President Bush signed the new law on military
tribunals, administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress wasted no
time giving Americans a taste of the new order created by this unconstitutional
act.
Within hours, Justice Department lawyers notified the federal courts that they
no longer had the authority to hear pending lawsuits filed by attorneys on
behalf of inmates of the penal camp at Guantánamo Bay. They cited passages in
the bill that suspend the fundamental principle of habeas corpus, making Mr.
Bush the first president since the Civil War to take that undemocratic step.
Not satisfied with having won the vote, Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the
House, quickly issued a statement accusing Democrats who opposed the Military
Commissions Act of 2006 of putting “their liberal agenda ahead of the security
of America.” He said the Democrats “would gingerly pamper the terrorists who
plan to destroy innocent Americans’ lives” and create “new rights for
terrorists.”
This nonsense is part of the Republicans’ scare-America-first strategy for the
elections. No Democrat advocated pampering terrorists — gingerly or otherwise —
or giving them new rights. Democratic amendments to the bill sought to protect
everyone’s right to a fair trial while providing a legal way to convict
terrorists.
Americans will hear more of this ahead of the election. They also will hear Mr.
Bush say that he finally has the power to bring to justice a handful of men
behind the 9/11 attacks. The truth is that Mr. Bush could have done that long
ago, but chose to detain them illegally at hidden C.I.A. camps to extract
information. He sent them to Guantánamo only to stampede Congress into passing
the new law.
The 60 or so men at Guantánamo who are now facing tribunals — out of about 450
inmates — also could have been tried years ago if Mr. Bush had not rebuffed
efforts by Congress to create suitable courts. He imposed a system of kangaroo
courts that was more about expanding his power than about combating terrorism.
While the Republicans pretend that this bill will make America safer, let’s be
clear about its real dangers. It sets up a separate system of justice for any
foreigner whom Mr. Bush chooses to designate as an “illegal enemy combatant.” It
raises insurmountable obstacles for prisoners to challenge their detentions. It
does not require the government to release prisoners who are not being charged,
or a prisoner who is exonerated by the tribunals.
The law does not apply to American citizens, but it does apply to other legal
United States residents. And it chips away at the foundations of the judicial
system in ways that all Americans should find threatening. It further damages
the nation’s reputation and, by repudiating key protections of the Geneva
Conventions, it needlessly increases the danger to any American soldier captured
in battle.
In the short run, voters should see through the fog created by the Republican
campaign machine. It will be up to the courts to repair the harm this law has
done to the Constitution.
A Dangerous New
Order, NYT, 19.10.2006,
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/opinion/19thu1.html
Marines shot Iraqi civilian in head, Navy corpsman
testifies
Updated 10/6/2006 9:49 PM ET
AP
USA Today
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — A slight, soft-spoken Navy
corpsman testified Friday that Marines in his patrol seized an Iraqi civilian
from his home, threw him into a hole and put at least 10 bullets in his head and
chest after growing frustrated in their search for an insurgent.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos said he saw a
Marine put fingerprints from the victim onto a rifle and on a shovel to
implicate him as an insurgent.
"I was shocked and I felt sick to my stomach," Bacos said.
Bacos, a medic who had been on patrol with the squad, was charged along with
seven Marines in the slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad last spring in the town of
Hamdania.
But Bacos, 21, struck a deal with prosecutors under which he pleaded guilty to
kidnapping and conspiracy and agreed to testify Friday at his court-martial and
during upcoming proceedings about what he saw.
Military judge Col. Steven Folsom sentenced Bacos to 10 years in prison but
reduced the term to one year because of the plea agreement. That will be further
reduced by time served.
A reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge also were suspended because of
the deal approved by the military authority that convened the court-martial.
In return for Bacos' testimony, other counts of murder, kidnapping and
conspiracy were dropped.
"Why didn't I just walk away?" Bacos asked before being sentenced. "The answer
to that question was I wanted to be part of the team. I wanted to be a respected
corpman, but that is no excuse for immorality."
Prosecutor Capt. Nicholas Gannon said, "We are in Iraq to protect Iraqis and
that fact makes this case more tragic and more criminal."
Bacos said he asked the Marines to let Awad go, but Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda
told him in crude terms that he was being weak and should stop protesting.
"I knew what we were doing was wrong," Bacos testified, speaking nearly in a
whisper. "I tried to say something and then I decided to look away."
Bacos was the first of the servicemen to be court-martialed. The seven others
could get up to life in prison.
Prosecutors have said the servicemen killed Awad out of frustration and then
planted the assault rifle and shovel by the body to make it look as if he had
been caught digging a hole for a roadside bomb.
Bacos testified that the squad entered Hamdania on April 26 while searching for
a known insurgent who had been captured three times, then released. Squad leader
Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins was "just mad that we kept letting him go and he was a
known terrorist," Bacos said.
The group approached a house where the insurgent was believed to be hiding, but
when someone inside woke up, the Marines instead went to another home and
grabbed Awad, a former policeman, according to the testimony.
Bacos said the squad had intended to get someone else if they did not capture
the insurgent, then stage a firefight to make it appear they had found an Iraqi
planting a roadside bomb.
Awad, 52, was taken from the home with his feet and hands bound, then placed in
a hole, Bacos said.
"I felt I couldn't stop it any more that day," Bacos testified. "They were going
to do it. They were going to carry out the plan, so I continued on."
Bacos said Hutchins fired three rounds into the man's head after checking to see
if he was dead, then Cpl. Trent Thomas fired seven to 10 more rounds into his
chest.
After the killing, Bacos said Hutchins called in to a command center and
reported the squad had seen a man digging a hole and wanted permission to fire
at him.
Bacos said he saw Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington put the victim's fingerprints
onto an AK-47 and on a shovel to implicate him as an insurgent who had fired
first. Bacos was told to fire an AK-47 into the air to simulate the sound of a
firefight.
After the killing, Bacos said, he was standing in the road when another Navy
corpsman drove by.
"He asked me what happened, and I was very vague," Bacos testified. "I said, 'I
want you to remember something. We're different. We're not like these men.'"
Bacos' wife and father sat in the front row of the courtroom during the
court-martial. During a break, Bacos turned to her and mouthed the words, "I
love you."
The tiny courtroom was still as Folsom repeatedly asked Bacos if he had been
coerced into giving his account of the shooting.
Bacos said he was testifying voluntarily. He wore a white Navy uniform and a
Purple Heart his wife said he had been awarded during a previous tour in Iraq.
Bacos was recently transferred from Camp Pendleton, where the Marines have been
held, to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for his own safety.
Military prosecutors had charged Bacos under the theory that he did nothing to
stop the alleged crime.
Along with Magincalda, Hutchins, Thomas and Pennington, the other Marines
charged are: Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, Pfc. John J. Jodka and Lance Cpl.
Jerry E. Shumate Jr.
David Brahms, Pennington's lawyer, said Bacos' account will be subjected to
intense scrutiny. "This is just one guy who is going to tell the story as he
sees it," Brahms said.
Former Army prosecutor Tom Umberg suggested that others might follow Bacos' lead
and strike similar plea bargains.
"You don't want to be the last guy standing. The first guy gets the best deal,"
he said.
After the proceedings, Bacos carried his 18-month-old daughter from the
courthouse and turned her over to his wife before facing the media. He said he
deeply regrets what happened in Hamdania.
"Hopefully, that family will forgive us for what we have done," he said.
Marines shot Iraqi
civilian in head, Navy corpsman testifies, UT, 6.10.2006,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-10-06-iraq-marines_x.htm
Two Marines plead not guilty to Hamdania murder
Wed Oct 4, 2006 8:29pm ET
Reuters
CAMP PENDLETON, California (Reuters) - Two U.S. Marines
pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to murder, kidnapping and other charges in the
April death of an Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania.
Pfc. John Jodka and Cpl. Marshall Magincalda were the first of eight military
men to be arraigned in the shooting death, one of several in which U.S. troops
are accused of killing civilians in Iraq.
Jodka and Magincalda are among seven Marines and a Navy medic who are accused of
dragging Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, from his home, shooting him dead and placing
an assault rifle and a shovel next to his body to create the impression that he
was an insurgent planting a roadside bomb.
All eight are based at Camp Pendleton in southern California and have been held
in the military brig there since May.
Jodka's court-martial trial was set for March 5, 2007, and
Magincalda's for February 1, 2007. Military prosecutors decided in August not to
seek the death penalty but the Marines could be sentenced to life imprisonment
if found guilty.
Military judge Col. Steven Folsom on Wednesday issued a temporary gag order in
the case, forbidding both prosecutors and the defense from releasing information
or making comments to the media.
Defense attorneys, who have previously expressed concern over the chances of a
fair trial, learned on Wednesday they would be allowed to visit Hamdania and to
interview witnesses, whose written statements have so far only been available
through military investigators.
Jodka asked to be tried before a panel of other Marines while the judge allowed
Magincalda to delay choosing between being tried before a military judge or a
panel of Marines.
Jodka, who was on his first tour to Iraq at the time of the incident, is charged
with conspiracy, murder, assault and housebreaking. Charges of making a false
statement and larceny and impeding an investigation were dismissed. He was
represented by two military and two civilian defense lawyers.
Magincalda, who was on his second Iraq deployment and who had previously been
awarded a Purple Heart, is charged with conspiracy, making a false statement,
larceny, housebreaking and murder.
Assault charges filed in June against Magincalda were dismissed at a hearing
last month.
Other Camp Pendleton-based Marines are under investigation in a separate
incident in November 2005 in which 24 civilians were killed in the Iraqi town of
Haditha.
Two Marines plead
not guilty to Hamdania murder, R, 4.10.2006,
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-10-05T011633Z_01_N04394247_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-MARINES.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C5-domesticNews-3
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