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Navy defends actions in Haditha probe
NORTH COUNTY -- The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is denying its agents did anything improper when they interrogated Marines in the 2005 slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha. On Tuesday, attorneys representing a senior officer charged in the case, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, asked Navy Secretary Donald Winter for an investigation based on complaints the agents mistreated Camp Pendleton Marines during interviews conducted in Iraq last year. Ed Buice, a spokesman for the investigative service, has since issued a written statement to the North County Times denying any improper conduct by the Navy's law enforcement agency. "Naval Criminal Investigative Service practices are wholly consistent with legal and constitutional requirements and conform to federal law," Buice said in the statement. Lt. Ryan Perry, a spokesman for Winter's office in Washington, said the complaint from Chessani's attorneys would be examined and that the secretary would have no comment beyond the statement issued by Buice. The letter sent to Winter's office contends that agents mistreated some of the witnesses and some of those ultimately charged in several ways. Some of the Marines were subject to questioning for as long as 18 hours and denied anything to eat or drink or use the bathroom, according to Chessani's attorneys. Other complaints include accusations that the agents yelled and threw things at the Marines and approached the case from the point of view that crimes had been committed. Chessani is charged with two counts of dereliction of duty and one count of violation of a lawful order for his role in conducting the initial investigation of what occurred in Haditha. His attorneys say he examined the scene of the killings on the day they took place, Nov. 19, 2005, and again the next day. His report filed with the Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq at the time reflected precisely what he knew, the attorneys say. A hearing for Chessani is set to take place in a Camp Pendleton courtroom starting in late May. His case will be the first among the seven Haditha defendants to reach court. Three other officers, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson and Capts. Lucas McConnell and Randy Stone, face similar charges. Three enlisted men, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lance Cpls. Justin Sharratt and Stephen Tatum face murder charges. The Marine Corps charged the men from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment on Dec. 21. All the accused maintain they are not guilty. One of the enlisted men originally charged, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, saw five homicide counts filed against him withdrawn earlier this month in exchange for his testimony during the upcoming court hearings. As many as seven other Marines, including a first lieutenant, also have been granted immunity.
Posted by: Steve 2007-04-26 |
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