October 5, 2007
Oct. 5 -- When word of the civilian killings in Haditha emerged last year to become the most serious prosecution of troops in the Iraq war, it became a tale of U.S. Marines -- led by a sergeant from Meriden -- engaged in a vengeful killing rampage. But the case against them has failed to convince an investigating officer, who has now recommended that murder charges against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich be dropped.
That officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, issued a written recommendation to instead send Wuterich to court-martial for seven counts of negligent homicide -- charges that could carry sentences of no more than three years each, instead of the life in prison he could serve if convicted on any the 17 counts of unpremeditated murder he faces.
A source close to the case shared a portion of Ware's report, which suggested that even negligent homicide charges would be hard to prove, but that the importance of the case seemed to warrant a court-martial.
Now, Wuterich awaits a general's decision. Will he be sent to court-martial? Or will he return to his more anonymous life as one of thousands of Marines at California's Camp Pendleton?
His case had been examined at a pretrial hearing known in the military as an Article 32. Ware's job at that hearing was to decide whether the case should go to trial -- and under what charges. The final decision, though, is in the hands of Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the recipient of Ware's report.
"The recommendation is a very positive step forward, but the important step is the next one, and that is how will Gen. Mattis react to it?" said attorney Mark Zaid, a member of the civilian defense team hired by Wuterich. "He can accept it, reject it or modify it. We're prepared to respond to any of those contingencies."
Ware's recommendation said, "No trier of fact can conclude Staff Sgt. Wuterich formed the criminal intent to kill."
He called the evidence contradictory, the forensic investigation insufficient and the witnesses biased. Though Ware thinks a prosecution for negligent homicide would fail, he suggested the evidence may prove dereliction of duty.
The homicide charges Ware recommended are based on the deaths of five children and two women in a back bedroom of one of the houses the Marines stormed after their convoy was attacked in November 2005.
Wuterich read a statement at his hearing, which his father said he wrote himself. Wuterich said he had told his Marines to shoot without hesitation that day.
When they went into the house, he said, "We used grenades and cleared the rooms by fire." "I am responsible for the decisions made to employ the tactics we used that day," he said. "My Marines responded to the threats they faced in the manner that we all had been trained. I will bear the memory of the events of that day forever, and will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to the attack."
Last year, Haditha was shaping up as this war's My Lai Massacre, and Wuterich was to be Connecticut's own William Calley, the lieutenant who supervised the destruction of the village in Vietnam and the killings of many who lived there. Even a prominent voice painted these Marines with such status.
Rep. John "Jack" Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine who has become a leading congressional critic of this war, said last year that the over-pressured Marines killed the civilians deliberately, "in cold blood."
The undisputed truth: Wuterich and his squad were ambushed that day -- marking Wuterich's first time in combat. One Marine was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb.
Testimony suggested that additional shots were fired at the surviving Marines from the first house they would clear. At the end of the day, though, 24 apparent civilians had been killed by the Marines. Four of the enlisted troops who were involved were charged with murder, and other Marines were given immunity to testify against them.
But in the many months since, charges against two of the Marines were dismissed, and charges against the third Marine were recommended for dismissal, leaving only Wuterich.
Because he was squad leader, Wuterich's attorneys assumed he would be treated differently.
If his case now focuses on what happened in one bedroom that day, it won't be easy for the prosecution.
At the Article 32, the government's lawyers presented only one witness who talked in detail about the bedroom, and he never mentioned Wuterich being present.
Negligent homicide is a hazy target, according to Patrick McLain, a military-law attorney in Texas who had lengthy experience as a Marine lawyer and judge. "You're not charging someone with a deliberate act," he said. "You're just saying they weren't careful enough." And the person's actions -- or failure to act -- caused somebody to be killed.
The maximum sentence is dishonorable discharge and three years in prison for each charge.
But McLain wonders how Marines are supposed to be careful. "How could you exercise due care? Your No. 1 mission is to close with the enemy and destroy him." The mission comes first, he said, followed by keeping yourself and your fellow troops alive.
If people are charged for crimes because of the collateral damage of war, "it's nutty."
He added, "That's warfare in 2007."
But others think the U.S. undercuts its credibility when it doesn't punish its own if they seem to overstep normal combat. Jumana Musa, a human rights lawyer with Amnesty International, said, "At this point, there's a huge accountability gap, which really gives the U.S. no credibility."
Though she said she doesn't know the facts in Wuterich's case, even if the murder charges are worth tossing out, she said, the rest of the world might scoff if the military does it. "They really have damaged their ability to say there are legitimate reasons for dismissal in a case."
Wuterich's parents, who still live in Meriden, weren't available for comment Thursday.
They have remained mostly silent recently as the case has passed through the legal stages, though father Dave Wuterich has said the waiting has been "hell." An American flag hangs in the doorway of the Wuterich house, and the two cars in the driveway sport "My Son is a U.S. Marine" bumper stickers.
While their son awaits the decisions that affect his future, he has taken his own aggressive step. With attorney Zaid, he's suing Murtha for defamation. Last week, a federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss the case and ordered Murtha to report for a deposition.
Murtha's office didn't respond to a request for comment.
So what's next?
"We're just taking it one step at a time, awaiting Gen. Mattis' decision," Zaid said. As for Wuterich, Zaid said, "He's always taken this in stride. Very calm, very relaxed."
That's the kind of person Wuterich is, Zaid said.
"The description of what he's alleged to have done has never fit his characteristics."
Contact Jesse Hamilton at [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])
Wuterich May Face Lesser Charges: Investigator Suggests Negligent Homicide
By: Jesse Hamilton, The Hartford Courant, Conn.Oct. 5 -- When word of the civilian killings in Haditha emerged last year to become the most serious prosecution of troops in the Iraq war, it became a tale of U.S. Marines -- led by a sergeant from Meriden -- engaged in a vengeful killing rampage. But the case against them has failed to convince an investigating officer, who has now recommended that murder charges against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich be dropped.
That officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, issued a written recommendation to instead send Wuterich to court-martial for seven counts of negligent homicide -- charges that could carry sentences of no more than three years each, instead of the life in prison he could serve if convicted on any the 17 counts of unpremeditated murder he faces.
A source close to the case shared a portion of Ware's report, which suggested that even negligent homicide charges would be hard to prove, but that the importance of the case seemed to warrant a court-martial.
Now, Wuterich awaits a general's decision. Will he be sent to court-martial? Or will he return to his more anonymous life as one of thousands of Marines at California's Camp Pendleton?
His case had been examined at a pretrial hearing known in the military as an Article 32. Ware's job at that hearing was to decide whether the case should go to trial -- and under what charges. The final decision, though, is in the hands of Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the recipient of Ware's report.
"The recommendation is a very positive step forward, but the important step is the next one, and that is how will Gen. Mattis react to it?" said attorney Mark Zaid, a member of the civilian defense team hired by Wuterich. "He can accept it, reject it or modify it. We're prepared to respond to any of those contingencies."
Ware's recommendation said, "No trier of fact can conclude Staff Sgt. Wuterich formed the criminal intent to kill."
He called the evidence contradictory, the forensic investigation insufficient and the witnesses biased. Though Ware thinks a prosecution for negligent homicide would fail, he suggested the evidence may prove dereliction of duty.
The homicide charges Ware recommended are based on the deaths of five children and two women in a back bedroom of one of the houses the Marines stormed after their convoy was attacked in November 2005.
Wuterich read a statement at his hearing, which his father said he wrote himself. Wuterich said he had told his Marines to shoot without hesitation that day.
When they went into the house, he said, "We used grenades and cleared the rooms by fire." "I am responsible for the decisions made to employ the tactics we used that day," he said. "My Marines responded to the threats they faced in the manner that we all had been trained. I will bear the memory of the events of that day forever, and will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to the attack."
Last year, Haditha was shaping up as this war's My Lai Massacre, and Wuterich was to be Connecticut's own William Calley, the lieutenant who supervised the destruction of the village in Vietnam and the killings of many who lived there. Even a prominent voice painted these Marines with such status.
Rep. John "Jack" Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine who has become a leading congressional critic of this war, said last year that the over-pressured Marines killed the civilians deliberately, "in cold blood."
The undisputed truth: Wuterich and his squad were ambushed that day -- marking Wuterich's first time in combat. One Marine was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb.
Testimony suggested that additional shots were fired at the surviving Marines from the first house they would clear. At the end of the day, though, 24 apparent civilians had been killed by the Marines. Four of the enlisted troops who were involved were charged with murder, and other Marines were given immunity to testify against them.
But in the many months since, charges against two of the Marines were dismissed, and charges against the third Marine were recommended for dismissal, leaving only Wuterich.
Because he was squad leader, Wuterich's attorneys assumed he would be treated differently.
If his case now focuses on what happened in one bedroom that day, it won't be easy for the prosecution.
At the Article 32, the government's lawyers presented only one witness who talked in detail about the bedroom, and he never mentioned Wuterich being present.
Negligent homicide is a hazy target, according to Patrick McLain, a military-law attorney in Texas who had lengthy experience as a Marine lawyer and judge. "You're not charging someone with a deliberate act," he said. "You're just saying they weren't careful enough." And the person's actions -- or failure to act -- caused somebody to be killed.
The maximum sentence is dishonorable discharge and three years in prison for each charge.
But McLain wonders how Marines are supposed to be careful. "How could you exercise due care? Your No. 1 mission is to close with the enemy and destroy him." The mission comes first, he said, followed by keeping yourself and your fellow troops alive.
If people are charged for crimes because of the collateral damage of war, "it's nutty."
He added, "That's warfare in 2007."
But others think the U.S. undercuts its credibility when it doesn't punish its own if they seem to overstep normal combat. Jumana Musa, a human rights lawyer with Amnesty International, said, "At this point, there's a huge accountability gap, which really gives the U.S. no credibility."
Though she said she doesn't know the facts in Wuterich's case, even if the murder charges are worth tossing out, she said, the rest of the world might scoff if the military does it. "They really have damaged their ability to say there are legitimate reasons for dismissal in a case."
Wuterich's parents, who still live in Meriden, weren't available for comment Thursday.
They have remained mostly silent recently as the case has passed through the legal stages, though father Dave Wuterich has said the waiting has been "hell." An American flag hangs in the doorway of the Wuterich house, and the two cars in the driveway sport "My Son is a U.S. Marine" bumper stickers.
While their son awaits the decisions that affect his future, he has taken his own aggressive step. With attorney Zaid, he's suing Murtha for defamation. Last week, a federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss the case and ordered Murtha to report for a deposition.
Murtha's office didn't respond to a request for comment.
So what's next?
"We're just taking it one step at a time, awaiting Gen. Mattis' decision," Zaid said. As for Wuterich, Zaid said, "He's always taken this in stride. Very calm, very relaxed."
That's the kind of person Wuterich is, Zaid said.
"The description of what he's alleged to have done has never fit his characteristics."
Contact Jesse Hamilton at [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])