U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich may be serving a maximum of 3 months in prison for allegedly leading his squad on a rampage that killed up to 24 innocent Iraqis, including women and children, in the town of Haditha.
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According to the Associated Press, the 2005 alleged rampage was led by Frank, who prosecutors say told his followers to “shoot first, ask questions later.”
Frank was initially charged with nine counts of manslaughter, along with 8 other Marines involved. However, none of them were convicted.
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In the courts, prosecutors maintained that Frank’s reaction was to seeing his fellow Marine and friend’s body being blown to pieces in a roadside bomb. The claim showed itself to be very difficult for the prosecution to prove.
Many of the Marines testified that they did not feel they did anything wrong because they feared insurgents were inside. Frank’s platoon commander, Lt. William T. Kallop, also testified that the 45-minute raid was justified considering he declared the homes to be ‘hostile.’
This forced prosecutors to enter a plea agreement with Frank in which he admitted to ‘negligent dereliction of duty.’
A sentencing hearing will be held on Tuesday. The judge will decide if Frank will serve a maximum of three months in prison, a demotion to private, and two-thirds forfeiture of pay.
Former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge, Gary Solis, spoke on the incident saying:
“The case doesn’t end with a bang, it ends with a whimper and a pretty weak whimper at that… When you have 24 dead bodies and you get dereliction of duty, that’s pretty good defense work.”
This 6-year case is noted as the longest and one of the most controversial court cases coming out of the Iraq War.
