Marine faces lesser charges in Haditha killings

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich at Camp Pendleton, August 30, 2007. Wuterich, the alleged leader of the Haditha, Iraq, killings of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2005, will face voluntary manslaughter and other charges but not more serious murder charges, the Marines said on Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. Marine accused of leading his unit in killing 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005 will face voluntary manslaughter and other charges but not more serious murder charges, officials said on Monday.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich said in a September hearing he regretted the Iraqis' deaths which followed the explosion of a roadside bomb that killed a popular Marine, but he insisted he had acted properly to keep his men alive.

Marines claimed they were searching for hostile combatants when the killings occurred. The incident, one in a series in which U.S. forces were accused of violent crimes against Iraqis, caused international outrage. Many of the Haditha victims were women and children.

In a statement, Camp Pendleton in California said the commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central, Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, decided that Wuterich would not face charges of unpremeditated murder of 17 Iraqis.

"The charges referred against SSgt Wuterich are voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice," the statement said. "Lt. Gen. Helland dismissed the charges of unpremeditated murder, soliciting another to commit an offence and false official statement."

Wuterich's lawyers viewed the reduction of charges as a partial victory and said they had requested a speedy trial.

"The good news is that SSgt Wuterich (and all of the Marines, for that matter), have been forever cleared of murder charges," attorney Neal Puckett said. "The bad news is that the extensive pretrial investigation and legal analysis conducted by an experienced military judge was essentially ignored."

"We are confident that a military jury will acquit SSgt Wuterich of all remaining charges, because he is, in fact, not guilty."

He faces a maximum penalty of more than 160 years in prison, according to Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson.

COMPLICATED BATTLE

In his September testimony, Wuterich described a complicated combat situation in hostile terrain that he said required lethal force.

"I will bear the memory of the events of that day forever and will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to the attack," Wuterich said.

Eight Marines were originally charged in the highly publicized case in which Wuterich said he shot at five men standing near a car and then was among a squad that entered two homes and killed 19 others.

Since the initial charges, the cases against two officers and two enlisted men have been dismissed. The Marines previously announced that two others would face courts martial, and the Marines announced on Monday the cases against Wuterich and an officer would proceed.

In a separate statement, Helland said he had also referred charges against 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson for making false official statements, obstruction of justice and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps. Another charge of dereliction of duty was dropped.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)