Posted on 11/18/2007 12:06:20 PM PST by RedRover
It’s the “throwing stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks” prosecution tactic. It could also be called the “clutching at straws” tactic. The prosecution continues to expose the weakness of their star defendants as each case goes along - whether it was Dela Cruz, Mendoza, or now Laughner.
Whoops, meant to say star witness, not defendant.
The prosecutions contention that the photos alone provided sufficient evidence is just stupid, IMO.
He kept them because he was showing them to his pals....”Hey, look at this dead guy...”
It’s illegal
Laughner kept them because of sick prurient interest, but he couldn’t say, “I thought they were cool” (the real reason.)
It’s illegal to keep photos of the dead for just that reason. Sick, prurient interest.
He had to say something that wasn’t illegal, so his only recourse is “I kept them because they might be important some day.”
It’s the ONLY thing he could say that wouldn’t be a confession to a violation.
I don’t buy that stuff that he kept photos of dead Iraqis “because they might be important some day” either.
Maybe he thought, at first, that he’d get in trouble for having pictures of dead Iraqis—and then it turned out to be his “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
Guess it was Prentice that destroyed a computer, had to get that in before Girlene got me.
Fortunately for you, there’s a Thompson Twins “Behind the Music” documentary on VH1 so Girlene is preoccupied.
As Girlene’s agent, I’d like to clarify one thing.
It’s not the Thompson Twins, but it is Simply Red that she listens to.
“....The killings were initially ruled as the result of combat and did not become the subject of a formal investigation until three months later and after a Time magazine report suggested the deaths represented a massacre. ....”
The civilian killings were originally not reported as killings, but the 15 were supposed to have been killed in the initial bomb blast.
5 more were killed by the taxi and 4 more in house 4, and there is no claim that any other then Marine shots were fired in either of those places - no firefight
In case you have not seen that original article -
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174682,00.html
You are right, bhfred, it WAS Prentice that destroyed his computer, not Laughner. Glad you got that in. :-)
xzins and Red, I don’t know why Laughner kept these pictures on his computer. I would hope it was not for some “sick” interest. Maybe he just simply forget they were there. When NCIS came-a-calling, he had to have some reason why they were still there, especially after he “lied”. I doubt he thought they would find anything when he first “lied”.
Originally, it was alleged there were two other photographers that day, Ryan Briones and Andrew Wright. Those were self-proclamations in press reports, and have never been established as fact. Andrew Wright sent pictures to Prentice who ended up destroying his computer for some reason. Briones is locked up for a crime back in the US.
What I’m wondering is this. Was Laughner the ONLY photographer, and thus the only disseminator of these photos to any other Marines? If he shared them with anybody else, I would think that was a no-no. But once they’ve been shared with even one person, the control of those photos and where they end up is gone. This could be the biggest problem he had. He was the source, he knew it.
Are any of these pictures still around?
I assume NCIS and the lawyers have all the pictures taken by Laughner. They have not been released except for a couple that were leaked to the press of the destroyed humvee and the white sedan occupants. I think the few shown in the press of the inside of the homes were taken by Iraqis after the bodies were removed by the Marines.
“What I’m wondering is this. Was Laughner the ONLY photographer, and thus the only disseminator of these photos to any other Marines?”
It appears not - from - http://warchronicle.com/TheyAreNotKillers/LCplSharratt/Testimony/SSgtLaughner.htm
He is shown pictures from the inside of house 4 showing the bodies, and they have numbers written on them that he says were not there when he was there.
“Q. Is there anything else about that picture that is different of when you went in that room and first saw them in person?
A. Yes, sir. The individual in the center of the picture, he has numbers written on his cheek.
Q. And those numbers were not there when you went in there?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you know what those numbers are?
A. As far as I knew, they were for battle damage assessment.
Q. Did you put those numbers on there?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you order those number to be put on there?
A. No, sir. “
It appears that there was at least one other Human Exploitation Team member there taking pictures
From the pathologists report -
http://warchronicle.com/TheyAreNotKillers/Documents/NCIS/PathologyReportHouse4-24Aug06.htm
“and photographs taken by U.S. Marine Corps Human Exploitation Team members.”
Here’s some detail from Briones -
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/60/20127
He mentions that his group were the ones that marked the numbers on the bodies - so that seems to fit Laughner’s and the pathologists statements.
IMO, the only reason to destroy a computer is to hide all “illegal” things you may be doing on it. Prentice Laughner, Daisy Chain. Just the kind of stuff I want to keep in my scrapbook and share with my grandkids. So these photos exist. The point in charging Lt Grayson eludes me,(maybe it is the flu, head full of snot), somebody clue me in, please.
Very good catches, RS. It appears Laughner took a set of photos in the afternoon (1 - 2:30 pm time frame) of unmarked bodies. That is not disputed. Briones indicates he and his team placed numbers on the bodies and took photos later (between 2:30 and when he returned to the base at 11 pm. I don’t know if that was ever verified; those were Briones allegations to the press. Andrew Wright also said he took photos; again never verified.
If there was another set of photos to identify the markings, were they taken by Briones and Wright, or someone else. We don’t know if Laughner took additional photos back later at the base, or morque. Since we don’t know which pictures Wright or Prentice had in their possession (marked/unmarked or both), it’s unclear where they came from. Maybe Laughner didn’t disseminate anything. Curious.
I don’t really know the point in charging 1st Lt. Grayson. I’m assuming NCIS/prosecution contends that since he told Laughner to get rid of the pictures later, it was part of the alleged coverup. His contention, I think, is that they were taken for intelligence purposes - try to determine any insurgents in the group. After a period of time, they were not an intelligence asset, so should be deleted. I do not know what standard procedure would be in a situation like this.
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