Posted on 07/20/2007 4:36:13 AM PDT by RedRover
CAMP PENDLETON -- A pathologist testified in a Camp Pendleton courtroom Thursday that, with no bodies to look at, she relied on death scene photos to figure out how Iraqis, including young children, died at the hands of Marines in Haditha in 2005.
The pictures provided to her were far less than ideal for such analysis, with the victims still dressed and their wounds not always visible, acknowledged Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, the forensic pathologist and medical examiner asked to determine how the victims had died.
"The photographs were all that was available," Rouse testified. Families of the dead refused to let investigators exhume the bodies. Rouse's testimony came on the fourth day of an investigative hearing to determine if Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum should face trial for his role in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005.
Many of the photos Rouse reviewed were taken by Marines documenting the battle scene and taking pictures of the faces of the dead to determine if any were known or suspected insurgents.
The photos were not taken to document wounds of the victims, nor were they done for a possible criminal investigation.
The testimony of Rouse and that of a government investigator brought forensic science to center stage at Tatum's hearing.
The investigator, Special Agent Thomas Brady with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, said he pieced together what may have happened in the first of four homes U.S. troops stormed moments after a roadside bomb killed a Marine.
According to his testimony, Brady determined it was possible that a 4-year-old boy may have been deliberately executed by a killer standing over him while the child cowered, based on the location of the boy's wounds.
But Tatum's attorney, Jack Zimmerman, said photographs suggested it was much more likely that the boy had been huddled at a woman's bosom when the Marines burst into the room and sprayed it with gunfire after first tossing in a grenade.
Brady testified that a trip to the home four months after the attack did not yield much physical evidence. The home had been repaired and repainted.
Prosecutors contend that Camp Pendleton-based Marines raided four homes and killed Iraqis in retaliation for the death of Lance Cpl. Miguel "TJ" Terrazas and the wounding of two others in the convoy.
Tatum and his co-defendants maintain they were the target of enemy gunfire after the explosion and ran into the homes in pursuit of their attackers.
The killings in Haditha grabbed international headlines and became the largest war crimes prosecution to arise out of the U.S. occupation of Iraq since it invaded that country in 2003.
[Meanwhile, in the Hamdania case...]
Camp Pendleton is also the site of hearings this week into an unrelated war crimes case out of Hamdania, Iraq. In that case, eight local troops were charged with kidnapping and killing an Iraqi man.
On Thursday, attorneys for Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, one of the Marines accused in the Hamdania case, lost their bid to argue that the victim was a wanted Iraqi insurgent and not a disabled, retired policeman, as prosecutors have said.
Judge Lt. Col. Eugene Robinson will allow prosecutors to remove the man's name from the charges, effectively blocking defense attorneys from challenging who the victim really was, and whether he was a known insurgent.
According to at least one attorney who's observing the hearing, the government's case is strong enough for referal to a court martial, but too weak to bring a conviction.
For more on this hearing, see here for starters.
my guess is if they could’ve examined the bodies they wouldve found ak rounds in them, which is why they the bodies were not reveiwed.
Hope this is grounds for appeal.
Yeah. I’m just a civilian, but it sure seems to me that it would be important to the case to know whether that victim was an enemy or an innocent.
This case is precisely why I have soured on the war. I believe in what our soldiers are trying to do but I cannot stand the way they are being second guessed. My gosh, a toddler could figure out how to use this kind of nonsense to their advantage and our government is playing right into the hands of the terrorists. What where these guys supposed to do? Excuse me Sir, are you an insurgent? Give me a effin break. I am sickened by the idea that our soldiers need to be sitting ducks. If the future of our military is going to be killing the enemy with kindness, then quit training them with weapons and teach them to write Hallmark cards so they can pass them out along with a box of candy. Don’t train them to fight back if they will be prosecuted for it. I am disgusted.
Humberto Mendoza, 21, of Aurora, California, was a private first class at the time of the incident. He admits to shooting two Iraqis but was granted immunity in exchange for signing testimony prepared by NCIS agents.
The NCIS practice of making up testimony has come under increased scrutiny in recent hearings. But Secretary of the Navy Winters has blocked any probes, apparently believing that NCIS' freedom to lie, distort, and falsify is essential to desirable outcomes at trials.
Mendoza is not a US citizen. Suspicion is high that he was threatened with deportation back to the land of Hugo Chavez if he didn't play ball with NCIS.
Mendoza's testimony against LCpl Tatum is not particularly convincing but will likely result in the case going to court martial.
The Tatum family's legal bills could run as high as a million dollars.
Then Sec Winters needs to be removed from his position. He is killing our soldiers for the sake of politically expedient convictions. If this was a civilian court the prosecution would be laughed out of the courtroom with such heresay and un-validated testimony. Serial killers have gotten off with better evidence than this.
“Strong enough for a referal to a court martial, but too weak to bring a conviction.” Could you elaborate on that? It sounds to me like he might go to court (trial?) but not to worry?
noooooooo! I know they don't pay attention to other cases, when making their rulings...
But somewhere along the line someone has to have figured out this whole mess should never have taken place.
No bodies to examine, no case. This whole damn thing is a fraud.
Who’s testimony is missing from this hearing? Salinas? He was in the first house with Tatum, Wuterich, and Mendoza. Why hasn’t Salinas been called for his report of what happened in House #1?
An Article 32 hearing is like a civilian Grand Jury.
A Grand Jury may send a case to trial even though the evidence is sketchy. Same thing in an Article 32 except the Investigationg Officier makes the recommendation to go to trial rather than a jury.
The IO may think a witness is lying (and will address that in his report) but still recommend a case to court martial because innocence of the accused is not clear-cut.
That is the assumption in the LCpl Tatum hearing based on all the testimony and evidence so far.
The testimony from Mendoza is not all that compelling because a) he didn’t witness the actual shooting, and b) he has a clear motive to lie.
Has the defense provided any witnesses yet? Or is that what they’re doing today? Shouldn’t they get a reasonable amount of time to present their case? That Mendoza is a real piece of sh#t. It sounds like he’s the one who charged in and shot civilians and is now blaming someone else for his crimes. The Marines and the US doesn’t need people like this.
Cindie
I haven’t heard about any defense witnesses yet though I’m assuming they’ll call at least senior Marine who served with LCpl Tatum in Fallujah to testify to his character as a Marine under fire.
More importantly, I believe the defense has their own forensic experts to counter NCIS interpretation.
"I see", said the blind man.
I'm not a Mattis-basher, but failing to provide immunity for Salinas is blow to the defense delivered by the Convening Authority.
BTW, I finally found this photo. Salinas does not look like someone who could be pushed around by a NCIS agent, does he?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.