Court hearing begins for Marine in Iraqi civilian deaths [UPDATED]

A court hearing at Camp Pendleton begins today for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the last defendant in the November 2005 deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Wuterich is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and dereliction of duty in the deaths of two women and five children.

Wuterich, the squad leader, allegedly gave the order for Marines to "clear" houses after a roadside bomb killed one Marine and injured two. Eight Marines were initially charged in the incident. Cases against six have been dropped, and one was found not guilty.

The Marine Corps is seeking to reinstate charges against one of those initially charged, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the battalion commander. Three senior officers were reprimanded for not investigating the incident more thoroughly. The military launched an investigation only after a magazine account disputed the initial version of the killings offered by the Marine Corps.

Updated at 1:50 p.m.: An earlier version of this post referred to the hearing as a court-martial.

-- Tony Perry

Photo: Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. Credit: Denis Poroy / Associated Press

Comments

[Joseph W.]

I find it surprising that the article about the court-martial does not mention that the magazine story that started this miscarriage of justice was completely discredited due to the personal bias of the author, and that the sources the author used were insurgents. Senator Murtha caught a lot of heat and grief when he relied on the same story to make baseless charges against the Marines. Check with the Thomas More Law Center for the straight scoop; they defended the Marines and got the acquittals. I followed the case closely, and yes, I also contributed to their defense fund.

[Semper Fi Mom]

THIS IS NOT A COURT MARTIAL!! It is a motions hearing regarding CBS and "60 Minutes"!! Please get your facts straight!

[anonymous]

i feel bad for the loss of those families but their is also so much pressure in the hands of our soldeir, marines and i feel the decission was made and he was only trying to make a right decision their can be worst punishment already with them being their so long not knowing what the next minute is going to be like. Know a days we've let worst people out and he was only trying to preserve more lives that are fighting for our country i cant see what the big deal is hear.