1st. Lt. asks for jury trial in Haditha case

NCT:

A Marine officer facing court-martial for obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005 is disheartened and wants a military jury to decide his case, his attorney said Wednesday.

1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, 27, was arraigned in a base courtroom Wednesday morning on charges that could see him sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison if convicted.

Grayson's civilian attorney, Joseph Casas, said his client is anxious to get the matter before a panel of his peers.

"He is very saddened by this whole thing and very stressed," Casas said.

The attorney said he is dismayed that the government is "continuing to go after this Marine, but we are just going to have to fight it."

Grayson, an Ohio native, waived his right to enter a plea during the session before the military judge, Maj. Brian Kasprzyk.

Casas said Grayson will enter a not guilty plea and demand a jury trial during one of a series of motion hearings, which are set to begin March 4. His trial is scheduled to start May 28 and last through June 3.

The obstruction charge centers on Grayson ordering a sergeant to destroy photographs taken of the dead Iraqis, a directive that he told investigators was consistent with Marine Corps' policy in Iraq in 2005.

Grayson has said the policy dictated that photographs of dead Iraqis were to be deleted from computer hard drives if a review determined they were not insurgents.

The charge of lying to investigators stems from his alleged denial when asked if such photos existed.

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In cases like this it usually depends on how the question or questions were asked and what the state of mind was of the person being questioned. Did he believe they had been destroyed already?