A Marine intelligence officer from faces trial today in San Diego on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements during an investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqis.
The court-martial of 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson of Springboro near Dayton is the first lawsuit to come to trial in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war.
Authorities maintain eight Marines killed the Iraqis in 2005 shortly after a roadside bomb hit a convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two Marines.
Grayson was not present at the scene of the killings in Haditha but is accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera.
His attorney says the government is "grasping at straws."
