A military judge who has heard days of arguments over motions in the case against a Marine officer charged criminally after U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., publicly accused service members of being murderers abruptly has changed a hearing that had been scheduled for three days to one hour.
The confirmation comes from the Thomas More Law Center, which is defending Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani.
 Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani |
Officials with the law center today said Col. Steven Folson, the military judge assigned to the case, 'informed counsel that the hearing in the Chessani case, originally scheduled for three days, June 16-18, has been changed to only one hour on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, at 9 a.m. PST.
'Col. Folsom indicated that the only business he will address is his ruling on the defense motion to dismiss Lt. Col. Jeffery Chessani's case because of unlawful command influence,' the law center said.
It was just days earlier when WND reported that a military jury of seven officers had acquitted Marine 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson of all charges stemming from the same incident. ....
Critics have described the charges as a vendetta against U.S. Marines following a public condemnation of the troops by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., before the conclusion of the investigation.
The Thomas More Law Center said the officers involved in the firefight handled its aftermath according to military protocol.
'Even though Lt. Col. Chessani promptly reported the events of that day to his superiors, including the deaths of 15 noncombatant civilians caught in the battle, nobody in Lt. Col. Chessani’s chain of command believed there was any wrongdoing on behalf of the Marines,' the law firm said.
But months later, a Time magazine story 'planted by an insurgent propaganda agent,' caused Pentagon officials to order the investigation, the law firm said.
The article was followed quickly by Murtha's comments. The congressman held a news conference and announced he'd been told by the highest levels of the Marine Corps there was no firefight and Marines 'killed innocent civilians in cold blood.'
'All the information I get, it comes from the commanders, it comes from people who know what they're talking about,' Murtha told reporters.
Murtha's statements conflicted with investigative results from the military itself. An initial investigation by Army Col. G.A. Watt found 'there are no indications that (Coalition Forces) intentionally targeted, engaged and killed noncombatants.' Later, Army Maj. Gen. Aldon Bargewell found no coverup, the law firm said.
