Accused Haditha Marine passed polygraph

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 6:21 AM PDT ∞

CAMP PENDLETON -- A lance corporal charged with murder in the shooting deaths of three Iraqi brothers in 2005 passed a polygraph examination in which he said the first man he shot was holding an AK-47 assault rifle, according to testimony heard in a base courtroom Tuesday.

Special Report

The test, administered in Iraq in April 2006, showed there was no apparent deception in an account provided by Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Nayda Mannle testified.

Sharratt is charged with three counts of unpremeditated murder for his role in the deaths of two dozen Iraqi civilians following a roadside bombing on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005. The 22-year-old rifleman, who is from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, could face life in prison if ordered to trial and convicted.

Mannle eventually became the lead agent for the Haditha investigation, which resulted in homicide charges for Sharratt and two other enlisted men. Four officers have been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the incident.

Mannle also testified that while the polygraph did not indicate that Sharratt was lying, the account the Marines gave of the day they stormed four homes did not match the accounts of some family members of the slain Iraqis.

Results of polygraph tests are not usually admissible at trial but can be raised in pretrial hearings.

Sharratt is accused of killing the three brothers inside the last of four homes that were assaulted by Marines after a roadside bomb killed a lance corporal and injured two others. Another man allegedly died from gunshot wounds at the hands of another defendant, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich.

The home was entered by the Marines about three hours after the bombing as they continued to search for insurgents they said attacked them with small-arms fire immediately following the bombing.

'Negative for insurgents'

Sharratt's attorneys strived Tuesday to show inconsistencies in the government's investigation, focusing many of their questions on why agents did not pursue full background reports on the men who died inside the fourth home, particularly one man who worked on the Jordanian border and may have had several Jordanian passports in his possession.

Mannle, who is a civilian agent, said such checks probably should have been done and agreed that agents can still try to piece that information together. But she also said that none of the 24 victims who died in Haditha had any known ties to the insurgency.

"We ran them through the database and all came up as negative for insurgents," she said during telephonic testimony from an office in the Pentagon.

The defense also is trying to show that forensic evidence from where the Iraqi men died is inconsistent with an account given by their surviving family members, who told investigators the men were herded into a room and executed in rapid succession. Sharratt has disputed that account.

Instead, the forensics from the government investigation show that one of the slain men was apparently hiding inside a closet and bullet holes are scattered on a wall throughout that room. The defense contends that dispels the allegation of an execution-style slaying.

Also testifying Tuesday was U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. David Bolgiano, an instructor on the rules of engagement. Bolgiano said there is a disparity when it comes to civilian deaths resulting from ground combat compared to aerial assaults.

Sharratt's lead attorney, Gary Myers, asked Bolgiano what would happen if civilians died as a result of an airstrike.

"Solatia payments," he said, a reference to the term that describes payments by the U.S. to Iraqis whose property is damaged or to survivors of civilians inadvertently killed as a result of military action.

Bolgiano also said that even though civilians died at Haditha, that alone does not mean the Marines did anything wrong.

"Bad results don't mean bad decisions," he said.

More hearings this summer

The two other enlisted men facing murder charges, Staff Sgt. Wuterich and Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, attended most of Tuesday's proceedings along with their attorneys.

Wuterich was the squad leader and led the assault on the homes at the direction of platoon Lt. William Kallop, who has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.

Hearings for Wuterich and Tatum will take place this summer. Hearings for two accused officers, former battalion commander Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani and Capt. Randy Stone, took place in May and earlier this month.

The hearing officer in Stone's case has recommended that criminal charges be dropped in exchange for handling his case administratively. A recommendation on whether Chessani should be ordered to trial is expected later this month.

The Haditha case is separate from the case of eight men from another Camp Pendleton unit charged last year with the abduction and shooting death of a retired policeman in the village of Hamdania. Five of those men have pleaded guilty in deals reached with prosecutors and been sentenced to terms ranging from 12 months to eight years behind bars.

-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

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