Marine report raises family's spirits: 'Contradictory' statements seen in corporal's case

Meriden Record-Journal (via DefendOurMarines) ^ | July 13, 2007 | Adam Wittenberg

[RedRover]

MERIDEN - Rosemarie Wuterich was ecstatic Thursday after learning of a report that appears to exonerate one of the Marines accused in the November 2005 deaths of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq. It wasn't about her son, Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, who is facing 18 murder charges, but the report on Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt includes her son and could help his case.

"It's absolutely wonderful," Rosemarie Wuterich said from the west-side home where she and her husband, David, raised Frank and his sister, who were both adopted.

"We're so happy for (Sharratt)," she continued. "I just hope it continues all the way up or down the line."

The family has been on a roller coaster of emotions since Frank Wuterich's name surfaced in the spring of last year in connection with the deaths, which occurred in the Iraqi town in November 2005 after a roadside bomb hit the Marine convoy, killing one soldier.

Wuterich was in charge of the patrol and led his troops on a house-to-house raid. The Marines also killed four men who approached the scene by car.

Wuterich has been living in Southern California with his wife and three children since he returned from Iraq in April of 2006.

He had planned to leave the Marines to study music, but the incident, and murder charges, which were leveled last December, have delayed his plans. His parents have stood by him and raised money for his legal defense, which his mother said could cost as much as $250,000, but much of the news has been discouraging - until now.

Marine Corps investigator Lt. Col. Paul J. Ware's report, which was issued after the prosecution and defense presented their evidence about Sharratt at a pretrial hearing, calls Iraqi witness accounts not credible.

"The statements of the Iraqis are unclear, contradictory in part and simply state self-interested conclusions as to what occurred within house four," Ware wrote. "Ultimately, there is only one statement by an eye witness to the events, Lance Cpl. Sharratt, and his version of the events is strongly corroborated by independent forensic analysis of the death scene."

Ware recommends that all charges be dismissed against Sharratt, something that could help Wuterich.

Wuterich was in house four with Sharratt, one of three where Marines killed the people inside during a process known as clearing.

Ware will issue reports on Wuterich and Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, who is also accused of murder, once the men have had their pretrial hearings.

Mark S. Zaid, one of Wuterich's attorneys, said in a phone interview Thursday that he was increasingly optimistic about Wuterich's case, even though the charges against his client are the most severe of those against the three enlisted men.

Wuterich and Tatum are charged with the deaths of men, women and children in the other two houses and the car that approached the scene.

"Ware was going out of his way in the report to say that the government's own forensic evidence doesn't support what the Iraqi witnesses are saying," Zaid said. "We are not concerned about the government's forensic evidence."

Tatum's pretrial hearing is scheduled to start Monday. Wuterich's is set for Aug. 22.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis will read the reports and determine if the independent cases should go to a court-martial, or military trial.

Civilian and military attorneys told The New York Times this week that they expect Mattis to go along with Ware's recommendation to dismiss the charges against Sharratt.

A report compiled on the Haditha deaths last year by Navy investigators implicated the three enlisted men and four officers for failing to investigate the incident.

So far, though, Marine investigators have recommended exonerating Sharratt and reducing the charges against Capt. Randy Stone to a civil punishment, Zaid said. It was recommended Wednesday that Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the incident, face a court-martial for dereliction of duty because he failed to investigate the incident after Marines initially reported that 15 Iraqis died in a roadside bomb blast.

[RedRover]

There was great news this past week for supporters of the Haditha Marines. The Investigating Officer's Report Of Charges Under Article 32 for LCpl Justin Sharratt recommended the dismissal of the case.

Now a new hearing, for LCpl Stephen Tatum, will start Monday regarding an entirely different engagement that morning in Haditha.

As with the Sharratt case, prosecutors are depending on the credibility of Iraqi witnesses, including Safa Younis and Eman Waleed.

Longtime followers of the Haditha case will remember these two witnesses from their frequent media appearances, which appeared coached, before their official statements were taken by NCIS.

Hope you'll take time to follow the LCpl Tatum hearing. There's a live thread at the link for the latest news.

Related threads:

• Haditha Hero- LCpl Stephen Tatum, by Darryl Sharratt, posted July 13

• A letter from Haditha Marine parents, by John & Stephanie Tatum, posted May 31

[RedRover]

[jazusamo]

God Bless the Wuterich's, Tatum's, Sharratt's and all these Marines.

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

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani

Military Combat Defense Fund

[lilycicero]

Thanks for the post. It’s great to hear the families are getting some emotional relief.

[bray]

Me Lie 2 doesn’t have enough Liars. One freed they’re all freed, only a matter of time now.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[Girlene]

It's also great to hear the families are getting some financial relief thanks to NewsMax readers' generous donations.

I'm hoping the prosecution decides to drop the one charge of murder in house #4 against Frank. Since the same IO will be presiding over this hearing, there seems to be no point in trying to further convince the IO that it was murder.

"We are not concerned about the government's forensic evidence." [Zaid said] - That's good news to hear!

[lilycicero]

Think about it, wouldn’t you love to be the bank teller when the families deposit their phat checks from NewsMax.

They might need an escort in an armored truck. Can they borrow yours Girlene?

[lilycicero]

Whoops...I mess around with the tags too much.

[Gene Eric]

Ping for later.

>> which his mother said could cost as much as $250,000,
I wonder what the total defense charges will be for all.

I’m coming across some of the Haditha posts by chance. Can you add me to your ping list? Thanks!

[Fido969]

Well, like they said during the Duke case when the lefties have their knives out - “It’s not about truth anymore.”

[RedRover]

I’ve heard it said that each case could easily run a million bucks if it goes all the way to a court martial. Right now, there seven accused but it looks like at least two (so far) will end at the Article 32s.

On the prosecution side, I’ve heard that our government has spent $43 million on the investigation. So the deck is stacked.

Regarding the pings, sorry about the omission. I’m sometimes on different ‘puters that don’t all have up-to-date lists. It won’t happen again!

[RedRover]

Let that be a lesson to you.

[RedRover]

"It's not about truth anymore."

It's pretty scary. When the accused in any case becomes a symbol of a social grievance or another Big Issue, defendents can be cleared but never fully exonerated in the court of public opinion.

[lilycicero]

Let that be a lesson to you.

I'll take that. I was afraid you were going to make me type it 100 times.

[Little_shoe]

Lets just hope Lt. Gen. James Mattis has the balls to be an impartial in this and not have an agenda to grind like Admiral Rodney Rempt.

[RedRover]

Do you mean the Lamar Owens case?

[Semper Fi Mom]

Hey Red, thanks for posting the article about Frank and all the other things that you do to keep everyone informed about the Haditha marines. You are irreplaceable! What would we do without you! Your steadfast devotion to this cause is unbelievable. God Bless You.

[RedRover]

I’m only in it for the celebration when Frank and all the others are free men!

There’s going to be one hell of a party once this thing is over!

[Marine_Uncle]

Sure is nice to hear this most encouraging news. G. Mattis had better keep his conscience clear and do what he knows he gotta do, drop all charges and restore each of these Marines faith in the Corps., by striking anything negative from their records.
After all. Each one of them simply carried out what he suggested each one of them do.

[Little_shoe]

Yeah I do me the Lamar Owens Case... or railroading would be a more accurate term.

[RedRover]

The whole Navy establishment acted as badly (if not worse) than Duke University in that fiasco. If memory serves, SECNAVY Winters was involved. Same guy who’s now shielding NCIS from investigation and reform.

[Little_shoe]

Yeah I totally agree the Navy Establishment was horrible in this case. However what sucks for Lamar is that unlike the Duke lacrosse players Owens was railroaded and has no means of recourse against either Rempt or the Navy Leadership. I find it sad that the military JAG's proclaim the military justice system under UCMJ to have "more" protections than civilian courts, yet this happens ...

I worked for a Navy Jag for a while yet one of the things I don't understand is why after the court martial was over it was sent back to a biased admiral for administrative adjudication.... Since once you goto CM you cant go back to the administrative side.

[Little_shoe]

Oh and don’t get me started on NCIS. I can understand the need for a separate investigative arm however I think Dick Marcinko was right to call them the “Admiral’s Gestapo”. Ive had the opportunity to see them in work and I was truly less than impressed. The NCIS agents I came dealt with came across as former enlisted cops with a chip on their shoulder.

[RedRover]

I’ve yet to meet a law enforcement officer who had anything but contempt for NCIS. They’re stuck in a mindset that confessions and eye witness testimony is the end-all and be-all of investigatory work. Former cops with a chip on their shoulder sounds about right!