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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Witness says accused Marine warned victims |
| 2005-02-25 |
| A Marine charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two Iraqis twice ordered the men, in Arabic, to stop before opening fire, a witness testified. The testimony corroborates claims by Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano that he fired at the Iraqis after they walked toward him and refused to stop, the Washington Times said Friday. His platoon had stopped the Iraqis as they left a house where insurgents were making bombs. "While I took my security post, I heard Lt. Pantano yell stop (in Arabic) directed toward the two Iraqi men searching the vehicle. He yelled stop. Lt. Pantano yelled stop, and then, I heard shots fired," a Navy corpsman in Pantano's platoon said in a sworn statement. The sworn statements provided the first inside look at a case that has drawn national attention because of Pantano's stellar record and the nature of the enemy he faced in Iraq. Pantano has made no public comment since Feb. 1, when the Marine Corps charged him with two counts of premeditated murder. If convicted at a court-martial, he faces the death penalty. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 I suspect the Private will be 'watching his six' for a long, long time. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-02-25 12:57:21 PM |
| #5 Mouthy private gets ... Let's have a contest! BigEd : Mouthy private gets transfered to Alaska for caribou immigrant enforcement at the Yukon border. (The Canadians have been acting oddly lately, so you can't even trust the animals!) |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-02-25 12:31:25 PM |
| #4 He'll (the LT I mean) be cleared. Mouthy private gets company punishment, applied by his squaddies. |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-02-25 11:47:40 AM |
| #3 Pvt. Disgruntled will be given solitary foot patrols in Mosul and Tikrit, so he figures out who the enemy is |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-02-25 11:01:06 AM |
| #2 Agreed,TT. On February 1st, 2005, the US Marine Corps formally charged Lt Pantano and opened an Article 32 investigation. Since the investigation began only three weeks ago, it is more than likely still ongoing. In MHO the LT will be absolved of any blame, but I wonder what will happen to Pvt Disgruntled who brought the murder charges. |
| Posted by: GK 2005-02-25 10:55:36 AM |
| #1 Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand the Corps in only in the Article 32 investigation phase, and thus, this is simply the taking of testimony and gathering of evidence to determine where to procede. If it is the Article 32 proceedings, then upon completion, the investigating officer will forward the findings and recommendations [if any] to the officer holding General Courts Martial authority. Somewhere between or after the JAG will review it for legal sufficiency. Part of that is the determination if the evidence, if any, will stand up in any court proceedings. The Federal rules of evidence apply. The GCM authority then must decide the next step to drop it, set it aside, or prosecute [if there is sufficient evidence]. The GCM authority has other administrative powers short of courts martial to use if he feels the situation warrants it. Understand that under the UCMJ, the GCM authority must act in some fashion, otherwise he too can be charged with provision of the code if he tries to coverup any act of wrong doing. This is all due process in action. It protects all the parties as well as prosecutes those who violate the law. Unlike 95% of the military in this world, ours does take the process seriously, if somewhat annoyingly buearucratic. |
| Posted by: Thavins Thavirt9269 2005-02-25 9:56:34 AM |