Hadithah staff sgt. to go on trial in February

Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for his arraignment at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego County on Wednesday. Wuterich has waited more than two years to give his side about his alleged involvement in the killings of 24 Iraqi men, women and children in Hadithah, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005.


Hadithah staff sgt. to go on trial in February
By Chelsea J. Carter - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 9, 2008 17:07:53 EST

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A Marine Corps squad leader will be tried next month on voluntary manslaughter and other charges stemming from a 2005 assault that killed 24 Iraqi men, women and children, a military judge ruled Wednesday.

The judge set a Feb. 25 court-martial date for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich during an arraignment on the charges, which also include aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice.

Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., reserved the right to enter a plea at a later date. He also reserved the right to decide whether to be tried by jury or have the case decided by the judge.

The charge of voluntary manslaughter includes specifications of a personal role in at least nine killings, naming seven victims plus one or more unknown people and that he ordered a lance corporal to kill a person.

The killings occurred Nov. 19, 2005, in Hadithah after a roadside bomb hit a Marine convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two other Marines. Wuterich and a squad member, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, allegedly shot five men by a car at the scene. Wuterich then ordered his men into several houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing unarmed civilians in the process.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_wuterich_080109/



uhc comment: 24 v. 5