Government Appeals Military Judge’s
Decision to Dismiss Charges
Against LtCol Chessani
by Nathaniel R. Helms | July
29, 2008
______________________________________________________
Marine
Corps prosecutors have asked a military appeals court to reverse a
lower court decision to dismiss criminal charges against the highest
ranking officer to face criminal charges in the so-called “Haditha
Massacre” affair.
The incident occurred on
November 19, 2005 at Haditha, Iraq after one Marine was killed and two
others from a squad of 12 infantrymen were wounded by a remotely
detonated roadside bomb. During the Marines’ counterattack against the
hidden assailants 24 Iraqis, including 15 civilians, were killed in
the cross-fire.
The government seeks to
reinstate criminal charges of dereliction of duty and orders
violations against Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani, the veteran infantry
officer in command at the time. Prosecutors had until midnight Monday
to file their appeal with the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals in
Washington, D.C., according to civilian defense attorney Brian Rooney.
The Marine Corps has not
yet responded to a Defend Our Marines inquiry regarding the
basis of the government’s appeal.
However, lawyers familiar
with the case opined that the government has claimed that the military
judge erred when he shifted the burden of proof from the defense to
the government to prove that unlawful command influence was not a
factor in deciding to prosecute the career Marine from Rangely,
Colorado.
Rooney said Monday that
Chessani’s joint military-civilian defense team will take the “unusual
step” of asking for permission to make oral arguments in front of the
appeals court before it rules on the government’s motion. He expects
it will take three to six months for the court to rule on the defense
request.
On June 17, Military
Judge Colonel Steven Folsom dismissed all
charges against Chessani without prejudice. He ruled that Gen. James
N. Mattis, the convening authority and final arbiter in Chessani’s
case, was unlawfully influenced by Col John Ewers, a Marine lawyer who
investigated the Haditha incident.
Mattis testified on June
2 that he never discussed Chessani’s fate with Ewers after the career
Marine lawyer was appointed the Staff Judge Advocate of the 1st Marine
Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton while he was deciding whether or
not to prosecute Chessani. Ewers and Mattis have a long, close
professional relationship.
Ewers testified that he attended numerous,
closed-session meetings in which LtCol Chessani’s case was discussed
with other lawyers of lesser rank and stature. The defense convinced
Folsom that Ewers’ presence during the discussions unlawfully
influenced Mattis to bring criminal charges against the former
commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.
__________________________________________
Nathaniel R. Helms
Defend Our Marines
29 July 2008
Note: Nat Helms is a Contributing Editor to Defend Our
Marines. He is a Vietnam veteran, former police officer, war
correspondent, and, most recently, author of
My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story (Meredith Books, 2007).
Marine
Corps prosecutors have asked a military appeals court to reverse a
lower court decision to dismiss criminal charges against the highest
ranking officer to face criminal charges in the so-called “Haditha
Massacre” affair. 