Published: August 09, 2007 11:08 pm      

Two Marines cleared of charges in Iraqi deaths

LOS ANGELES — All charges have been dismissed against two Marines accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps announced Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., was charged with murdering three brothers. Capt. Randy Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer from Dunkirk, Md., was charged with failing to adequately report and investigate the Nov. 19, 2005, combat action in which women and children were among the dead.

In his decision to dismiss charges, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general with jurisdiction in the case, said he was sympathetic to the challenges Marines on the ground face in Iraq.

“Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield,” Mattis wrote in his letter to Sharratt.

The decision could provide ammunition for political opponents of U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown.

In May 2006, the congressman created a firestorm by saying Marines had killed innocent women and children “in cold blood” during the attacks. Murtha said U.S. troops overreacted and that nearly twice as many people were killed than first reported.

Four enlisted Marines initially were charged with murder, and four officers were charged with failing to investigate. Prosecutors dropped charges against one of the enlisted men, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz of Chicago, and gave him immunity to testify against his squad mates.

The central figure in the case remains squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., who faces 18 counts of murder. He is scheduled to attend a preliminary hearing Aug. 22.

The other enlisted Marine, Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum of Edmond, Okla., has attended a preliminary hearing, but no recommendation has been made about whether he should stand trial for murder.