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Judge Grants SEAL's Witnesses Immunity
The case against a Navy SEAL accused of not protecting an alleged Iraqi terrorist took a major turn Friday when a military judge ordered that five key defense witnesses be granted immunity to testify on his behalf.Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas is one of three SEALs accused in the controversial case, which has led to protests and calls from members of Congress for the charges to be dropped. Huertas faces court martial for dereliction of duty, impeding an investigation and making a false official statement. A member of SEAL Team 10 at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, he was one of the commandos who captured Ahmed Hashim Abed in Fallujah in early September. A sailor guarding the detainee claimed to see one SEAL punch Abed while Huertas and a third SEAL watched. Four other SEALs and a Navy corpsman who were present on the day of the alleged incident, including the detachment commander, dispute the guard's claims. Because they'd been told they also faced prosecution, they requested immunity before testifying in the case. Army Maj. Gen. C.T. Cleveland, the head of Special Operations Command Central, denied their requests in February. The military judge hearing the case against Huertas, Cmdr. Tierney Carlos, said Friday that the witnesses would offer testimony shedding doubt on the guard's allegations. Not granting them immunity, he ruled, is either an attempt to gain tactical advantage over the defense or showed the government was overreaching. Carlos gave Cleveland until March 24 to provide immunity to the witnesses or he will abate the proceeding -- a legal term for postponing it indefinitely. Posted by: Sherry 2010-03-18 |
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