Charges against Marine officer dropped

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 6/18/2008 6:45:00 AMvar addthis_pub = 'onenewsnow';

A military judge has dismissed charges against a Marine officer accused of failing to report an alleged "Law of War" violation.

Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Chessani (USMC) had been charged with not fully investigating the alleged violation, which involved the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha, Iraq. The alleged incident took place November 19, 2005.
 
But in recent developments, Col. Steven Folsom has dismissed charges against Chessani after defense attorneys raised concerns that an investigator probing the November 2005 shootings improperly influenced a four-star general who was overseeing the prosecution. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be re-filed, but Folsom excluded Marine Forces Central Command from future involvement.
 
Brian Rooney is with the Thomas More Law Center, which has been representing Chessani. He says the prosecution could also appeal this ruling. "We believe it's rock solid, and if they do decide to appeal it won't go anywhere," he continues. "And we hope now that cooler heads and more mature people will consider that enough is enough and this thing needs to end now and no more charges need to be brought," Rooney contends.
 
The attorney says the Law Center and it clients are cautiously optimistic that the charges will not be brought back, and that Chessani can retire. Chessani was the highest-ranking officer implicated in the case.

Can we get a "I'm sorry" Rep. Murtha???? you piece of camel dung.....