RUTHFULLY YOURS

After last week’s prosecution witnesses in the court martial of Frank Wuterich finished up, I was ready to write that they sounded more like prosecution witnesses testifying for the defense. It appears that the prosecution seeing its case collapse, as it has against the other Haditha Marines, may be ready to virtually throw in the towel.
In the middle of a Haditha Marine’s testimony today, the proceeding was halted, for the prosecution and defense to possibly negotiate a settlement of the case. A reporter at the court martial who for years has been a prime reliable source throughout the Haditha prosecutions writes,

With government witnesses waiting to testify, the military judge overseeing the proceedings at Camp Pendleton announced Wednesday afternoon that the trial was on hold while prosecutors and Wuterich’s attorneys “explore options” and “go ahead with negotiations.”
The judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, also informed the two sides that he was available for consultation if needed.
The sudden disruption in the trial is a strong signal that an agreement that would resolve the case was being discussed. A deal would end the last major war crimes trial arising from the Iraq war.
A source close to the case who spoke on the condition their name not be used confirmed discussions were ongoing.
Attorneys for Wuterich, a Murrieta father of three young girls, declined to comment Wednesday. Prosecutors are forbidden by Marine Corps policy from commenting.
A possible resolution could involve a guilty plea to a minor charge in exchange for manslaughter charges being dropped and little or no punishment.

Last week, one officer who delivered an ROE lecture in the US before the Haditha Marines deployed to Iraq said the rules of engagement were to positively ID whether a dangerous foe. This was contradicted by the actual training and standard operating procedures and by the other prosecution witnesses testifying that Frank Wuterich acted in accord with orders, training and SOP. Further, the forensics witness contradicted the already suspect testimony from Dela Cruz, and showed that Dela Cruz’ likely killed at least two of the five Iraqis from the white car that pulled up within seconds and near the first IED explosion, not Wuterich, the Marines being warned of white cars used for IEDs.
As I wrote last week about “Understanding The Wuterich Haditha Court Martial”, the lesser charge of “dereliction of duty” is a catch-all for negligence or culpable ineptitude. The punishment can range from minor to severe. Another reliable reporter who was at last week’s court martial commented to me that the reporter expected, at most, a finding of dereliction of duty with minor punishment, at least to justify the 7-years of the – as it has turned out – witch hunts to justify the rush to judgments in 2005 that have one by one been found in Article 32 and court martial proceedings to be without merit.