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1st Trial In Haditha Killings Begins

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The Associated Press

Published: May 29, 2008

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine intelligence officer went on trial Wednesday on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements related to a squad's killings of 24 Iraqi civilians.

The court-martial of 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson began with jury selection. Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, is the first of three defendants to go to trial in the case.

Authorities maintain that eight Marines killed Iraqi men, women and children in Haditha shortly after a roadside bomb hit a convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two Marines.

Grayson was not present at the scene of the killings on Nov. 19, 2005, but is accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera.

Grayson, who says he did nothing wrong, rejected a plea deal under which his charges would have been dismissed in exchange for an admission that he covered up the killings, his attorney has said.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder in the case and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Charges were dropped against five of the Marines but remain against Grayson, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.

After the bombing, investigators say, Wuterich and a squad member shot five men by a car at the scene. They allege that Wuterich then ordered his men into several houses, where they killed unarmed civilians.

Grayson's attorney has previously said the government was "grasping at straws" by pursuing charges against his client.

Grayson is charged with two counts of making false official statements, two counts of trying to fraudulently separate from service, and one count each of attempt to deceive by making false statements and obstruction of justice by trying to impede an investigation.

Among the questions potential jurors were asked was whether they listened to conservative radio host Michael Savage, who has defended the Marines accused in the Haditha cases, or watched PBS' "Frontline: Rules of Engagement," a segment billed as the "untold story of what happened in Haditha."

Grayson faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and dismissal from the Marine Corps if found guilty of all charges.

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