Pat Dollard

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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) – Marines forced to testify against a squad leader accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians will likely offer conflicting accounts of the killings, a military prosecutor said Wednesday.

The Marines “are begrudging in their testimony,” Capt. Nicholas Gannon told a judge Wednesday during a pretrial hearing for Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, who faces voluntary manslaughter and other charges for his role in the Nov. 19, 2005, shooting deaths in Haditha, Iraq.

It was one of the clearest statements to date by prosecutors over perceived legal problems with the Haditha cases—the largest prosecution of U.S. troops 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.

Among other issues to be addressed during the three-day hearing were motions to dismiss the case because of undue publicity and command influence, and a motion to quash a subpoena to compel CBS to turn over raw footage of a “60 Minutes” interview with Wuterich. The network has declined to hand over the footage.

The comments about the Marine witnesses came as a judge considered a defense motion to keep out or at least limit what defense attorneys described as “gruesome” and “inflaming” crime scene photographs that show dead bodies, including those of women and children.

“Post-death photos do not actually display what went on in that house,” said attorney Neal Puckett. “It’s a bunch of dead people, and it’s prejudicial.”

The incident began when the squad’s convoy was struck by a roadside bomb, killing one Marine and wounding another. In the aftermath, squad members killed 24 Iraqi civilians, authorities have said.

Puckett argued that many of the photos were of victims that Wuterich had not been charged with killing. The charge of voluntary manslaughter against Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., includes specifications of a personal role in at least nine killings, naming seven victims plus one or more unknown people, and the allegation that he ordered a lance corporal to kill a person.

Puckett told the judge, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, that there were questions from the Marines being forced to testify as to whether Wuterich was even present for some of the killings.

Gannon argued that the photographs were needed to counter those anticipated conflicts in testimony.

“The conduct speaks otherwise. They are shooting through doors. They are shooting women walking down the hallway,” Gannon said.

In a neighboring courtroom, a two-day pretrial hearing was under way for Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani.

Among the motions the judge was hearing were requests to compel the deposition of Rep. John Murtha over comments the congressman made about Marines killing “in cold blood” in Haditha and motions to dismiss charges because of undue influence by commanding officers.

Chessani is the highest-ranking U.S. serviceman to face a combat- related court-martial since the Vietnam War. He has been charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations that he mishandled the aftermath of the shooting deaths.

Chessani was commander of the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

The decision to send Chessani to trial came after a hearing officer excoriated him for failing to go to the scene of the killings immediately after they occurred.

Chessani has said he never ordered a formal investigation because he believed the deaths resulted from lawful combat.

Chessani, of Rangely, Colo., faces court-martial on April 28. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to three years in prison.

A judge has set an April 28 court-martial for 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, on charges of making false official statements, obstruction of justice and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps.

Wuterich is scheduled to begin court-martial on March 3.