Marine does not enter plea in Hadithah case

Marine does not enter plea in Hadithah case
By Chelsea J. Carter - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 23, 2008 16:47:12 EST

SAN DIEGO — A Marine Corps intelligence officer was arraigned in military court Wednesday on charges that he ordered the destruction of photographs of Iraqi civilians who were killed in a 2005 assault in the town of Hadithah.

First Lt. Andrew Grayson did not enter a plea at Camp Pendleton, and the judge set a May 28 court-martial for Grayson to face charges of making false official statements, obstruction of justice and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps.

Investigators say Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, was not present at the scene of the Hadithah killings but is accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera.

The killings of 24 Iraqi men, women and children occurred Nov. 19, 2005, in Hadithah, Iraq, after a roadside bomb hit a Marine convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two other Marines. It has resulted in the biggest U.S. criminal prosecution involving civilian deaths in the Iraq war.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder in the case, and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Charges against several of the men have been dropped, and none will face murder charges.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_marinehadithah_080123/



uhc comment: Every time I see the name Hadithah, I think of this thread I wrote on June 4, 2006 --> http://journals.democraticunderground.com/unhappycamper/8