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2-star called to testify in Hadithah case

SAN DIEGO — A two-star general who commanded Marines in Iraq when 24 civilians were killed in the town of Hadithah is set to testify in the first hearing in the case, a lawyer for a Marine charged in the case said Tuesday.

The Marine Corps has made Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, the former commander of the 2nd Marine Division, available for the preliminary hearing next week, said Charles Gittins, an attorney representing an officer accused of failing to investigate the deaths.

Gittins’ client, Capt. Randy W. Stone, 34, faces dismissal and up to two years in prison for dereliction of duty and failing to obey orders or regulations.

His Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding, is set for May 8. At the end of the hearing, an investigating officer will make a recommendation about whether the charges should go to trial or not.

The Marine Corps and Gittins are negotiating whether Huck will testify in person or by telephone, the lawyer said.

Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson declined to comment about Huck.

The hearing would be the first in the Hadithah case, the most serious to have emerged against U.S. troops since the start of the war in Iraq.

The slayings occurred Nov. 19, 2005, in the aftermath of a roadside bomb that killed one Marine and injured two others. Following the blast, Marines killed a group of men by a car and several other Iraqis, including women and children, in nearby homes.

Three enlisted Marines are charged with unpremeditated murder and four officers are charged with failing to report or investigate the deaths. Lawyers for the officers say their clients properly reported the deaths to their superiors.

The enlisted men maintain their innocence, saying they responded to an insurgent attack the way they had been trained to.

Stone, of Dunkirk, Md., was the battalion’s lawyer. Gittins said he wants to show that Marines at every step of the chain of command were aware of the killings, so any decision not to launch an investigation was shared.

According to court documents, Huck was briefed on the killings Nov. 22 and they did not seem suspicious. Huck told investigators that “no bells and whistles went off.”

Gittins said this illustrates the feeling among officers at the time — that based on information from the enlisted men, the killings were the result of a “troops in contact” engagement and officers acted appropriately in reporting events.

Huck, who could not be reached by phone and did not respond to an e-mail message, now works in the Pentagon as assistant deputy commander of plans, policies and operations, said Marine spokeswoman Capt. Amy Malugani.