Haditha Marine Acquitted

Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 8:27:47 pm PDT

The most ludicrous politically-motivated prosecution of US soldiers in the nation’s history continues to collapse, as 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson is acquitted in the Haditha case: Marine acquitted in Haditha killing cover-up case.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A military jury acquitted a Marine intelligence officer Wednesday of charges that he tried to help cover up the killings of 24 Iraqis.

Cheers erupted as the seven-officer panel cleared 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, who was the first of three Marines to be tried in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi deaths linked to the war. The verdict came just five hours after deliberations began.

The judge, Maj. Brian E. Kasprzyk, admonished the noisy courtroom, saying: “There will be no more of that.”

Grayson, who has always maintained he did nothing wrong, was not at the scene of the killings of men, women and children on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha. He was accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital camera and laptop computer.

Outside the courtroom, a visibly emotional Grayson said the verdict was an end to a terrible ordeal.

“It’s finally time for me to get to be with my family,” he said, fighting back tears.