Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich takes responsibility for the slayings and expresses remorse to the victims' families during his sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to negligent dereliction of duty.
Source/Credit: Los Angeles Times
By Tony Perry | January 25, 2012
Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will not serve a jail sentence following his guilty plea in the killing of 24 Iraqis in 2005, a military judge said Tuesday.
The announcement by Lt. Col. David Jones came after Wuterich took responsibility during his sentencing hearing at Camp Pendleton for the killings in the Euphrates River town of Haditha and expressed remorse to the victims' families.
Jones said he had planned to recommend 90 days in the brig — the maximum as requested by the prosecution — but that the plea bargain approved by Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser had called for no jail time.
"It's difficult for the court to fathom negligent dereliction of duty worse than the facts in this case," Jones told Wuterich.
Wuterich, 31, was the last of eight Marines charged in the Haditha killings to have his case resolved. Six had the charges against them dropped, and one Marine was acquitted.
The lack of trial convictions in the Haditha case is likely to further inflame anti-U.S. sentiment in Iraq, as well as fuel criticism by some legal analysts of the 6-year-long investigation and prosecution.
A Marine Corps spokesman said Waldhauser would offer no public explanation of his decision to accept the plea bargain and stipulate that Wuterich receive no jail time.
A doctrine of military law says that "the conviction can be seen as the punishment," Jones noted to jurors at the beginning of the court-martial proceedings.
On Monday, Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty; in exchange, manslaughter, assault and other dereliction charges were dropped.
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