General Drops All Charges Against Two Marines

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 9, 2007 at 12:11 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Marine Lieutenant General James Mattis has dismissed all charges against two Marines: one accused of murder, and the other of dereliction of duty, in the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005.

Marine Lieutenant General James Mattis has dismissed all charges against two Marines: one accused of murder, and the other of dereliction of duty, in the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. KPBS reporter Alison St John has the story.

The two men will go free without having to face a court-martial. Lieutenant Colonel Justin Sharratt was accused of killing 3 Iraq brothers, among 24 civilians killed by Marines after a roadside bomb blew up a humvee in their convoy.

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In his statement dismissing the charges, General Mattis wrote:"The experience of combat is difficult to understand intellectually and very difficult to appreciate emotionally.” He based his decision on the recommendation of a hearing officer, who wrote, "The murder charges were based on unreliable witness accounts, poor forensic evidence and questionable legal theories."

General Mattis has also declared Captain Randy Stone innocent of charges he failed to initiate a thorough investigation of the incident.

The decisions are the first in a series of hearings to determine if seven Marines should be court-martialed for their role in the Haditha killings

Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.