US drops charges against Haditha marine in exchange for testimony

US drops charges against Haditha marine


Staff and agencies
Wednesday April 18, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The US military has dropped all charges against one of the eight marines accused over the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians near the town of Haditha, it emerged today.

The move came in exchange for 24-year-old Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz giving testimony in potential courts martial for the other seven men charged.

Sgt Dela Cruz was charged with premeditated murder and making a false report about the alleged massacre on November 19 2005 - the most serious set of allegations against US troops since the Iraq conflict began.

"Charges against him were dismissed on April 2 after the government balanced his low level of culpability in the alleged crime against the potential value of his testimony," the Marine Corps said in a statement yesterday.

Neither Sgt Dela Cruz nor his lawyers commented on the decision, which was unusual in seeing all charges dismissed in return for testimony rather than reducing the scale of charges or the possible sentence.

Sgt Dela Cruz is among eight marines - three other enlisted men and four officers - charged in December over the incident. No date for a hearing has yet been set.

He could be a key witness for the prosecution, although it remains unclear whether his testimony will contradict his fellow marines' claims that they believed they were under attack and had followed proper procedures to defend themselves.

Neal Puckett, the lawyer representing the marines' squad leader, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, who is charged with 13 counts of unpremeditated murder, said Sgt Dela Cruz was "at liberty to say whatever he wants to say".

The killings, which saw a number of women and children die in their own homes, happened as the marines carried out a mission in Haditha, west of Baghdad, after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb.

Last month, Staff Sgt Wuterich used a television interview to insist he had followed military procedures and stand by his actions.

"What I did that day, the decision that I made ... I would make those decisions again today," he told CBS television's 60 Minutes programme. "Those are decisions that I made in a combat situation, and I believe I had to make those decisions."