Congratulations, Sergeant Dela Cruz

Defend Our Marines ^ | April 20, 2007 | David Allender

[RedRover]

On Tuesday, the Marine Corps announced that all charges had been dropped against Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz. He had been charged with murder for the incident in Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005.

And that was the only part of the story the media got right.

There were reports of a plea deal, that this was terrible for the defense. Lawyers said prosecutors must have had the sergeant over a barrel. He’s saving his own skin! He’s a traitor!

And no one had the facts.

There was no deal, no pretrial arrangement of any kind for testimony, sources close to Sergeant Dela Cruz’s defense told me.

Lieutenant General James Mattis ordered Sergeant Dela Cruz to cooperate and testify eleven days before the charges against Sergeant Dela Cruz were dropped.

General Mattis had come to the conclusion that, on balance, the charges against Sgt. Dela Cruz should not go forward. Still, Sergeant Dela Cruz was a witness and (like Corporals Mendoza, Salinas, and others) he will be required to testify truthfully. It would be incredible if he wasn’t.

Many have said that Sergeant Dela Cruz’s testimony regarding Sergeant Frank Wuterich firing on suspects at the taxi will convict Wuterich. More nonsense.

Here’s what some people have a hard time grasping.

Sergeant Dela Cruz only knows what he saw. He doesn’t know what Sergeant Wuterich saw.

Dela Cruz doesn’t know how the situation looked through Wuterich’s eyes when he came to a split-second decision to fire at the five Iraqis beside a white taxi.

And Dela Cruz, who likes and respects Wuterich, is not going to second-guess the way his fellow Marine saw things.

November 19, 2005 was Wuterich’s first day in combat. Dela Cruz was in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 4th Marines. His second tour was with the 1/4 in hellholes like Najaf. His third tour (with the 1st Marines) brought Dela Cruz to Haditha that morning.

The two may have seen the situation completely differently, tell different stories about the event, and both be telling the truth as they saw it when one man saw a reason to act.

Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz is an honorable Marine. When the full story of Haditha is known he will be recognized as a heroic Marine. His coolness in taking prisoners that day is just one instance, among many, that belies the media's tale of Marines on a rampage.

The sergeant will testify to the truth as he saw it. So will the accused. If the cases go to courts-martial, a jury will weigh the evidence and reach a verdict.

I believe that all the accused will be exonerated, if they all get the defense they deserve.

In the meantime, here’s advice for anyone following this case. Be glad that justice prevailed for Sergeant Dela Cruz, and believe very little of what you read about the Haditha Marines. From the beginning, the media got it wrong and it's not getting it right yet.

[RedRover]

Thank you, Sergeant Dela Cruz, for your service to our country.

To read more about this Marine, see this Marine Corps News article of September 2, 2004: 11th MEU combat in Najaf: A fireteam's tale

Sergeant (then Corporal) Sanick Dela Cruz (Lucian Read, Vanity Fair)

[RedRover]

[dynachrome]

no deal, no pretrial arrangement of any kind for testimony

Excellent news!

[SandRat]

GOOD NEWS INDEED!!!!

[RedRover]

And why couldn’t the media just say it?

[jazusamo]

Thia is great news. Thanks for posting this, Red.

[jveritas]

Excellent news.

[jazusamo]

If you would like to help with the civilian lawyer’s legal fees for the
Haditha Marines you can do so by going to these sites.

Defend Our Marines

Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt

SSgt. Frank Wuterich

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani

Marine Defense Fund

[Txsleuth]

Thank you for that article...I feel better about Dela Cruz...I just hope the writer is right in his prediction for the rest.

[RedRover]

Amen to that, sleuth!

[freema]

This thread is Haditha
The other is Hamdaniya/Hamdania

This might help keep things clear.

RedRover=HADITHA (Alleged Massacre of civilians-women & children.)(Marines not confined to brig.)

RaceBannon=HAMANDIYA/HAMDANIA PENDLETON 8 (Alleged Murder of Awad, lone Iraqi in a hole with a shovel)(Marines held in CONEX boxes with no water, bathroom, etc., then shackled and held in solitary).

I feel like a ping pong ball.

[Girlene]

“Be glad that justice prevailed for Sergeant Dela Cruz” - Here, here!

“I believe that all the accused will be exonerated, if they all get the defense they deserve.” - That is the goal.

Thanks for this excellent news, RedRover.

[smoothsailing]

Wow, this is good news! Your post explains the situation more succinctly than anything I’ve seen thus far.

[smoothsailing]

I feel like a ping pong ball.

:-)

[freema]

Gotta tell you, that looks like the calm version of my daughter when she, just tonight, put it all together. She has stalked out of the room, functional neurology flew out the window, and law school just parked itself in the middle of the living room. I will add, the standing joke around here is that all the boys joined the service to learn how to fight her...and win. Ellie Mae with brains.

[McGavin999]

One by one. When this is all over, someone is going to need to investigate why our military is being prosecuted for doing their jobs.

[RaceBannon]

I got word that Delacruz and the Lt BOTH took pleas to testify to avoid tial

[Marine_Uncle]

nice paddle. Heheh.

[pinkpanther111]

“Be glad that justice prevailed for Sergeant Dela Cruz” - Here, here!

“I believe that all the accused will be exonerated, if they all get the defense they deserve.” - That is the goal.

Thanks for this excellent news, RedRover.

AND an excellent post!

[smoothsailing]

Ellie Mae with brains.

LOL! Be still, my heart!

[RedRover]

Then you heard wrong, Race. There has not been a plea deal in the Haditha case.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Dela Cruz

Bump!

[RedRover]

Thanks, pink! (Help spread the word, will you?)

[smoothsailing]

G'Evening, Uncle!

Freema has the pong, but I got the ping!

[RaceBannon]

I think someone is wrong, because I just heard it less than 10 minutes ago, too.

[pinkpanther111]

http://conservativethoughts.us/2007/04/20/congratulations-sergeant-dela-cruz/

DONE!

[Marine_Uncle]

It would be great, but of course who will set the stage for an honest investigation. It appears similiar screw ups where done over a number of years, in which some RedRover or RaceBannon and a few others had cited in some earlier related posts.
I for one am starting to wonder why CBS took on the series NCIS, and make it look like such a crack organization. They may have known a few years back things where going to start happening, that would lead up to cases like we now are seeing.
Call me paranoid, that is ok. I just got a bad feeling things have been in the wind for a long time, and of course it never hurts to glorify those that will pull off under the board tactics in advance, to make it look like they are nothing but honorable.
Sadly the one thing I totally agree with FDR. Nothing just happens with no reason.

[Lancey Howard]

Great post!
As always, thanks for the ping.

[Marine_Uncle]

Enjoy the upcoming real spring weather. About time us old farts got a few sun rays to bake our brains. I got the weekend off. Probably the first time in a billion years, since joining the Home Depot team.
Don't know hardly what I will do with my time. Stay in the dank dark basement and read pings from FR, or venture out in the real world and see trees and absorb a bit of sun. Perhaps a mix will do followed by a few Coors Extra Gold lagers.

[StarCMC]

Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz is an honorable Marine. When the full story of Haditha is known he will be recognized as a heroic Marine. His coolness in taking prisoners that day is just one instance, among many, that belies the media's tale of Marines on a rampage.

Bump to the freaking top!!

[SandRat]

BTTT!!!

[smoothsailing]

It's been a beautiful day here! 74 and sunny! The Coors Extra Gold is perfect! :)

[RedRover]

Hey, that's terrific! Congratulations, Sergeant Dela Cruz is now in three places on the Internet. Let's hope for more because the media sure isn't going to report it!

[Girlene]

I hope this is all true for all these Marines sake. But why would a Marine official say they had balanced Dela Cruz’s low level of culpability in the alleged crimes against the potential value of his testimony? IOW, why are they trying to make it sound like Dela Cruz will turn on Wuterich when he testifies, and the prosecution is willing to forget charging Dela Cruz to get this testimony?

[jazusamo]

That’s great, Panther, it’s looking good.

[RedRover]

That’s why I posted this. There’s a lot of bad information and speculation going around. A plea deal means someone pleads guilty to something. There have been no plea deals in the Haditha case.

[Marine_Uncle]

"The Coors Extra Gold is perfect!"
I felt duty bound to start early. Slurp... ahhhhh! Time to hit the rack in a few minutes. Do have a great upcoming day.

[FourPeas]

VERY good news.

[RaceBannon]

okay, I was incorrect, Dela Cruz is being given immunity to testify against his fellow Marines, I did mistype! Wrong word.

Sorry! :)

Not good!

[lilycicero]

Dela Cruz doesn’t know how the situation looked through Wuterich’s eyes

That totally makes sense. Thank you so much for the Dela Cruz update.

[RedRover]

I know exactly what you mean. Reuters first reported that charges were dropped because the Corps balanced Dela Cruz's "low-level of culpability in the alleged crimes against the potential value of his testimony". And that really made me think that there was a deal.

Several phone calls and e-mails later, I got to the bottom of it.

Reuters somehow got hold of a draft of the Corps' press release. That phrase was in the draft. But it was deleted in the final version.

You can see the final version here. There's nothing about "low-level culpability". But everyone just keeps repeating what Reuters said without even knowing what it means!

I can't tell you how important this is. The media is getting nearly everything about this case wrong!

[RedRover]

You’re welcome, lily! I thought you’d like this post.

[smoothsailing]

G'Night Uncle, have a wonderful tomorrow!

[RedRover]

Thanks, smooth! Murtha has given me the yips and I just believed the media reports when they first came out. Just expecting the worse.

But let's have faith in the Corps. They aren't Murtha and they aren't the media.

[lilycicero]

Yes, it made my cranky go away. Freeper Fretting is what I had. :)

[RedRover]

Dela Cruz is being given immunity to testify against his fellow Marines

No, that's not right either. Dela Cruz was ordered to testify. And he was given immunity. So were at least seven other Marines--some at the request of the defense.

I wish this case was never brought forward. I wish the same for Hamdania. From all accounts, the NCIS behaved abusively in both cases, but beyond that, the two cases don't have much in common.

[Girlene]

So, Reuters reports it like there’s a quid pro quo, when there’s not. This press release just says charges were dismissed. What about immunity? Nothing is stated in the release about that.

[RedRover]

You and me both! You and I both believe in Frank and I’m more convinced then ever that he’ll be exonerated.

[RedRover]

As far as I know, immunity has been granted to every witness--both for the prosecution and defense. That hasn't been reported, naturally. The media was singling out Dela Cruz to suggest that he was some kind of bombshell witness.

So far, there's nothing at all to suggest that General Mattis is being partial to the prosecution.

[smoothsailing]

But let's have faith in the Corps. They aren't Murtha and they aren't the media.

AMEN TO THAT!!! May God Bless our Marines. We Must always keep the faith!