Posted by
Catmman on Friday, October 05, 2007 7:25:12 AM
Or, at the every least, the murder charges may be dropped and he'll be prosecuted for a lesser offense.
Either way, John "They-murdered-innocent-civilians-in-cold-blood" Murtha has a lot of 'splainin to do.
From Hot Air:
Shocking or not? Read this Haditha post from last month, including and especially the update, and you’ll see why the investigating officer has such a hard time believing, as Murtha does, that the Marines killed anyone “in cold blood.” Murder charges against two others have already been dismissed based on the same facts; it stands to reason that they’d be dismissed against Wuterich too. On the other hand, Wuterich was the star defendant with 13 counts of murder against him. One of the other Marines, Sanick De La Cruz, made a deal with the government specifically so that he could testify for the prosecution against him. If he walks, there won’t be a single murder conviction to come out of the incident.
A Marine Corps official has recommended that murder charges be dismissed against a Camp Pendleton squad leader accused in the deaths of 17 civilians killed in the Iraqi city of Haditha two years ago.
The official, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, said in a recommendation obtained by the North County Times that rather than face murder charges, squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich should be tried for the lesser offense of negligent homicide in the deaths of five children and two women.
Ware recommended 10 other murder charges against Wuterich be dismissed.
“I believe after reviewing all the evidence that no trier of fact can conclude Staff Sgt. Wuterich formed the criminal intent to kill,” Ware wrote in reference to the women and children. “When a Marine fails to exercise due care and civilians die, the charge of negligent homicide, and not murder, is appropriate.”