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June 18, 2008
Charges Dismisssed Against Lt.Col. Chessani
Source:
Defend Our Marines
A military judge has dismissed charges against a Marine officer accused of failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis.
Col. Steven Folsom dismissed charges Tuesday against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani after defense attorneys raised concerns that a four-star general overseeing the prosecution was improperly influenced by an investigator probing the November 2005 shootings by a Marine squad in Haditha.
The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled, but Folsom excluded Marine Forces Central Command from future involvement.
Chessani was the highest-ranking officer implicated in the case.
In a stinging rebuke of the government's handling of a high-profile war crime case, a military judge Tuesday dismissed dereliction of duty charges against the commander of a Marine squad that killed 24 civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha.
The dismissal of charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani came after a finding that then-Lt. Gen. James Mattis was unlawfully influenced by a Marine attorney who participated in an investigation of the killings and then became the general's top legal adviser.
The ruling by Col. Steven Folsom, the judge presiding over Chessani's case, was a major blow to the government, which has seen charges against seven of the eight men accused with criminal wrongdoing in the 2005 killings dismissed or withdrawn. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich is for now the lone Haditha defendant.
Folsom ruled the participation of Col. John Ewers as an investigator and report writer in the Haditha killings and his later appointment as Mattis' top legal aide constituted unlawful command influence.
Ewers' depth of involvement, he said, "tainted" the charges against Chessani beyond repair.
"Unlawful command influence is the mortal enemy of military justice," Folsom said. "The appearance of unlawful command influence is as devastating as actual manipulation of a trial."
A dismissal, he said, was necessary to maintain public confidence in the military justice system.
Prosecutors were given three days to appeal. If they choose not to but want to continue the prosecution, Folsom said, a new investigation must be conducted. Approval of any new charges must come from a senior Marine officer who has had no association with the case, Folsom said.
Chessani, who remained stoic throughout the hearings, showed no reaction when the decision was announced at the end of an hour-long session inside a small base courtroom.
The highest-ranking man charged in the Haditha killings had been scheduled to go on trial by court-martial on July 16.
After Tuesday's hearing, Chessani and his wife, Alissa, the parents of six young children, declined comment.
"We're cautiously optimistic the government won't refile the charges," said one of his attorneys, Brian Rooney. "We hope that it's over. It should be over. We believe it never should have got this far."
Chessani commanded Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at Haditha.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Thank you Lord!! What a grave injustice the PC idiots imposed on this man, and all the other Haditha warriors!
Only Sgt. Wuterich left to be exonerated.
Please God, it would really be justice if Murtha was punished for what he did to these men.
Posted by Wild Thing at June 18, 2008 05:50 AM
Comments
Now how do they get their reputation and careers back. Thanks to Murtha these men are scared for their lives.
Posted by: Mark at June 18, 2008 12:11 PM
Mark, exactly!!!!!
Murtha's damage and what the others just walk off with no care or thought to that at all. They are scum!
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 18, 2008 06:33 PM
Great graphic of Kerry and Murtha. They are the ones who should be put on trial for what they did to the military. Damn them both.
Posted by: Les at June 18, 2008 07:35 PM
On the 5 p.m. FOX Channel's
'Just In' Laura Ingraham show tonight, I heard this blessed news and rejoiced! Michelle Malkin apologized to these US Marines and their lawyers on behalf of the media. Only one more Devil Dog to fight for and hopefully clear his name & record! Still pray for this to happen and then Murtha and the Yellow Coats had better be ready to stand tall, eh?
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at June 19, 2008 12:10 AM
Les I agree, gosh I would love that so much.
Thank you Les.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 19, 2008 02:47 AM
Darth, yes just one more to go. This has been such a long horrible time for them and also for their families.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 19, 2008 02:51 AM
