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Marine does not enter plea in Hadithah case

SAN DIEGO — A Marine Corps intelligence officer was arraigned in military court Wednesday on charges that he ordered the destruction of photographs of Iraqi civilians who were killed in a 2005 assault in the town of Hadithah.

First Lt. Andrew Grayson did not enter a plea at Camp Pendleton, and the judge set a May 28 court-martial for Grayson to face charges of making false official statements, obstruction of justice and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps.

Investigators say Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, was not present at the scene of the Hadithah killings but is accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera.

The killings of 24 Iraqi men, women and children occurred Nov. 19, 2005, in Hadithah, Iraq, after a roadside bomb hit a Marine convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two other Marines. It has resulted in the biggest U.S. criminal prosecution involving civilian deaths in the Iraq war.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder in the case, and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Charges against several of the men have been dropped, and none will face murder charges.

A court-martial for Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault, is scheduled to begin March 28.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., faces court-martial on March 3 on charges that include aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice.

Also still facing court-martial on April 28 is Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, who has been charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations he mishandled the aftermath of the shooting deaths. Chessani, of Rangely, Colo., was a battalion commander.

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