Posted on 02/01/2008 6:29:39 PM PST by RedRover
CAMP PENDLETON – The Marine Corps has subpoenaed outtakes from a “60 Minutes” TV interview of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who led a group of Camp Pendleton Marines in killing 24 Iraqi civilians about two years ago.
The revelation was made Friday during a court hearing for Wuterich on the base.
Prosecutors have described the Marines' actions Nov. 19, 2005, in the city of Haditha as a massacre. Wuterich and a fellow Marine are scheduled for trial on charges such as voluntary manslaughter, while two officers will be tried for allegedly trying to cover up the killings.
Camp Pendleton officials said CBS News, which produces "60 Minutes," has so far refused to turn over footage taken for the segment about Wuterich. The standoff could lead to a courtroom showdown on the base in coming weeks.
CBS officials declined to comment yesterday.
Wuterich recounted details of the Haditha incident during the broadcast, which aired March 18, 2007. He also maintained his innocence, saying he regretted the deaths of civilians but insisting that they were unavoidable as part of combat between Marines and insurgents in the area.
Wuterich, 27, is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. If convicted during his March court-martial, he could be sentenced to nearly 161 years in the brig.
The Haditha incident began after a roadside bomb struck a convoy led by Wuterich. The blast killed one of his men and wounded two others.
In the next few hours, Wuterich and about a half-dozen other Marines used grenades and assault rifles to kill the civilians – five men who were near the bomb site and 19 men, women and children in some nearby homes.
During the Friday hearing, military judge Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks granted the prosecution's request to travel to Haditha and interview three children who were in two of the houses that Marines entered. The prosecutors plan to videotape their testimony.
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Office Hours
“Outtakes”??
Now THAT’s interesting....
So is this good or bad?
FOUL !
why is everyone else an alleged murderer, or a accused rapist..... but the media has already convicted these marines ?
Huh? And what about the defense's right to cross examine those sterling witnesses?? Do we know anything about this "military judge Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks"? Is he another JAGoff, in the bag for Winter and Bush and the rest of the Pentagon appeasement scumbags who lust for enlisted Marine trophies on their walls so they can demonstrate how politically correct they are in their "counterinsurgency" outreach?
I need to go barf.
errr, aaahhhh, errr, well I ahh I don’ ah know err. You can’ errr, ahh. You can’t, you can’t err, say , ahhh that. I don’t know. ahhh.
It doesn’t matter if you are articulate or not. What counts is who controls the editing.
THIS IS THE MOST BLATANT CASE OF YELLOW JOURNALISM I HAVE EVER SEEN !
An obvious attempt to find Wutterich stumbling over his words. I wondered at the time why the defense ever let him near a camera. They should not have.
In any case, their position might be that outtakes were retaken because of mistakes.
I sure don’t understand how video taped testimony could be admitted, if it will be admitted, being that the defense has the right to cross examine, any legal eagles know the answer?
Move over and hold my hair back...I need to go barf too.
With a name like Wuterich, he already has two strikes against him.
Regarding the witnesses, they could end up exonerating the Marines. Iraqi witnesses essentially exonerated SSgt Wuterich and LCpl Sharratt for their actions in house # 4 (something the media never mentions).
Regarding the 60 Minutes outtakes, I can't believe there's anything there that would be detrimental. Actually, if the prosecution plays the interview, it could backfire with the jury. SSgt Wuterich's remorse over the results of the engagement is real and apparent. His interview shoots a giant hole in the prosecution's theory of rampaging Marines.
It was the 60 minutes interview that Really brought Haditha to my attention. I wanted to reach through my TV screen and slap Pelley hard.
60 minutes told my brother that interview was the best thing that could have happened to SSgt. Wuterich.
And it was the strictures placed on 60 minutes by Sgt. Evan Vela’s attorneys that probably nixed his interview with them. Although they did send a crew out to film my brother.
I think I said this on another thread, but a retired Marine lieutenant colonel sent me a message recently.
In his view, this whole fiasco is the result of a conflict between the combat and admin chains of command. And the admin side is dangerously in charge.
And the Admin's are under the sway of people like Murtha?
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