Lawyers: Marine was being treated [LCp Delano Holmes still in brig, still awaits day in court]

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | November 1, 2007 | Rick Rogers

[RedRover]

CAMP PENDLETON – In the months before Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes fatally stabbed an Iraqi soldier in their sentry outpost, military doctors were treating him with drugs for anxiety and insomnia, his attorneys said this week.

Prosecutors have charged Holmes with murdering Mutather Jasem Muhammed Hassin on Dec. 31 in Fallujah. Holmes cut and stabbed Hassin 40 times with his combat knife, with some of the wounds piercing the victim's spine.

The revelations come about a month before the start of Holmes' court-martial at Camp Pendleton. They provide further evidence that defense lawyers, as part of their overall court strategy, plan to highlight Holmes' mental state at the time of the killing.

Defense attorneys said Holmes' physicians had prescribed him drugs such as Ambien, a sleep medication; Trazodone, an antidepressant; and Valium, which is often used to treat anxiety disorders.

However, missing medical documents cloud the issue of exactly what medications the doctors approved for Holmes and when they did so. Holmes has said he was taking prescription drugs but doesn't recall all of them.

The lack of details angered Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, the military judge overseeing the case.

“We are in the U.S. Marine Corps and our medical record is supposed to follow us around,” Meeks said during a motions hearing Tuesday at Camp Pendleton. “Are you saying that (Holmes') medical record is lost?” A prosecutor said the records were not available, but that another effort would be made to find them.

For months, Holmes' attorneys have maintained that he had to kill Hassin before Hassin killed him.

Stephen Cook, a civilian lawyer from Orange County, said his client was primarily motivated by self-defense but that “the totality of circumstances, including medication and stress of war and post-traumatic stress disorder, played a part.”

Defense attorneys have said Holmes fought with Hassin after the Iraqi soldier illuminated their outpost with the glow of his cellular phone, then with a cigarette, in the early morning hours of last New Year's Eve.

Cook said Holmes feared the glow would allow insurgents to target them. He also said Holmes was uneasy because three days earlier, in a different part of Fallujah, three Marines from his battalion had been killed in a sniper attack.

Holmes gestured to Hassin to stop exposing the outpost, Cook said, and the fight erupted when Hassin laughed.

Then Holmes pulled his knife when he thought Hassin was going for his rifle, Cook said. Holmes radioed for help after stabbing the soldier to death.

Holmes was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a reserve unit based in Lansing, Mich.

[RedRover]

This case has flown under the radar, but it is as troubling as the high-profile cases against Marines. LCpl Holmes will be in the brig for nearly a year before he gets a day in court.

Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes (left) went to a hearing at Camp Pendleton on Tuesday with Capt. Bart Slabbekorn.

Previous thread on this story: Marine accused of killing Iraqi soldier: Attacker says he saw possible enemy link

[Cicero]

Why were a marine and an Iraqi soldier put on joint sentry duty? Diversity politics? It seems to me that this is more than just a matter of “training” procedures. When you are put in harm’s way, you need to be able to trust the guy guarding your back.

From what it says in this story, it sounds as if the Iraqi was a total jerk, and the marine finally snapped. Or maybe the Iraqi snapped and the marine protected himself, as he says.

[PAR35]

Stabbing someone 40 times sounds more like rage than self defense.

[RedRover]

Depends on the nature of the fight. Could even be both, “self-defense” and “rage” aren’t mutually exclusive.

In other cases, prosecutors have used the “too many times” argument. In the Lt Pantano case, for instance, prosecutors argued he shot an Iraqi too many times for it to be anything but murder.

Prosecutors lost that case because the counter argument is, how much force is enough? The argument is even stronger in a hand-to-hand situation.

[RedRover]

[PAR35]

Did the marine have any wounds?

[Lancey Howard]

Once again, I ask, “WHO is the genius who figured it would be a good idea to station a Marine trained in noise and light discipline up on a sentry tower with a smoking, joking, cell-phoning Iraqi??” THAT is the person who should be on trial here.

[RedRover]

There isn’t a lot of detail out about the case so things are sketchy. But my understanding is no. LCpl Holmes said the Iraqi had a rifle and they struggled. I couldn’t give you more of an account than that.

[PAR35]

Thanks. I was fishing for info I hadn’t seen. Based on the limited info available, I’ll leave it with my original comment for now and wait to see what else develops.

[RedRover]

I’m keeping tabs on this story, so I hope we’ll learn more as it unfolds.

[Girlene]

LCpl Holmes will be in the brig for nearly a year before he gets a day in court.

When he was brought back to the states, LCpl Holmes thought he was returning to his family and that there was no trouble with charges. Instead, once he got off the plane, he was shackled and taken to the brig. Almost a year - unbelievable. Any idea at what level of security he's being held?

[Girlene]

Seems like almost a year in the brig has had an affect on LCpl Holmes demeanor. Here is a previous photo.


LCpl Delano Holmes

His mom has a website Help Defend Delano for those interested in helping her son.

[RedRover]

Any idea at what level of security he's being held?

FRmail to you.

[Girlene]

Did a little reading up on prescription drug use in Iraq. Here's one article Rushed back to the front . There are quite a few articles dealing with PTSD and the use of drugs to counteract it. So far, I haven't found percentages of Soldiers/Marines who are taking antidepressants/sleep aids/ and other drugs while in Iraq, but the indication is that the number is growing. From the article,

Although top military officials have denied that antidepressants are in widespread use in Iraq, a recent Pentagon survey found that 12 percent of soldiers - nearly one in eight - are taking prescribed medications for mental health or sleep problems.

Also from the article ...Combat doctors' complaints about the lack of drugs to treat patients like Virgadamo led to the prescribing of Prozac and similar medications to soldiers in Iraq after 2004.

If Delano Holmes was taking a mixture of Ambien, a sleep medication; Trazodone, an antidepressant; and Valium, which is often used to treat anxiety disorders, there is no telling what this cocktail mixture would do to a person in combat. Add the sentry duty with an Iraqi soldier, language barrier, the whole 9 yards, his reaction to this situation would be affected.

The fact that his medical records are missing is quite curious and telling. I'd say the defense atty's focus on the military's handling of Holme's mental status in Iraq is quite appropriate. The military has some explaining to do.

[RedRover]

Thanks for that, Girl. bighead’s nephew is in a similar situation. Doped to the gills, deprived of sleep, and then second guessed from a comfy remove.

And guys like Del and Evan are coping with PTSD on their inside a brig.

It really is disgraceful. bighead got his congressman to write SECDEF Gates a letter of enquiry. I sent a copy to Del’s family. I hope they can do likewise.

[bigheadfred]

Can’t take credit for Congressman Mike Simpson’s involvement.
But glad someone put a bug in his ear.

[modestalchemist]

This is so sad about Del. He’s such a good guy. He has my support all the way. He is definately one of the best people I know, and I believe his story 100% whatever it happens to be.

[ketsu]

Stabbing someone 40 times sounds more like rage than self defense.

That's true to a point. Let's do a little thought experiment. Let's say a snake snaps at you? You have a shovel. Do you:

a.) give it a little love tap with the shovel to discourage it from biting you.

b.) smack it as hard as you can *once* knowing you're a big bad man and one hit is all you need.

c.) beat the everloving stuffing out of the snake because you want to make sure it's DED dead.

The number of wounds are immaterial here IMO. You can't expect someone who's fighting for his life to make the sorts of judgments the military is expecting of them.

Assuming the Marine's story is true, the Iraqi soldier refused to put out his cigarette and cell-phone and was reaching for his gun, the Marine had every right to make a shish-ka-bob out of the Iraqi soldier.

[PAR35]

Let's say a snake snaps at you? You have a shovel.

After I chop off the head with a shovel, I generally retreat to a defensive position until the parts stop moving. Pounding it 40 times after it is already beaten into a pulp sounds like rage or hysteria to me.

Scroll up a few posts where a couple of posters are speculating as to whether medication might have been a factor.

We'll see if more comes out, but I certainly haven't seen anything that would back me off my initial reaction.

[ketsu]

After I chop off the head with a shovel, I generally retreat to a defensive position until the parts stop moving. Pounding it 40 times after it is already beaten into a pulp sounds like rage or hysteria to me.

Scroll up a few posts where a couple of posters are speculating as to whether medication might have been a factor.

We'll see if more comes out, but I certainly haven't seen anything that would back me off my initial reaction.

Come on, this guy was supposed to be *friendly*. You don't think that would be a tad bit disconcerting? Especially when your supposed "ally"'s screwing around is about to get you killed. Second guessing the Marine strikes me as armchair commandoing.