Lesser charge recommended against Marine

The Marines should pursue a less serious administrative charge against a captain accused of failing to probe the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians because he was "selectively singled out" for prosecution while more senior officers escaped charges, an investigating officer said.

Capt. Randy W. Stone, 34, who is a lawyer, was charged with violation of a lawful order and dereliction of duty for failing to report and investigate the deaths in the assault. He faced up to 2 1/2 years in prison if convicted of those charges at court-martial.

A squad of enlisted Marines killed two dozen men, women and children Nov. 19, 2005 after a bomb struck a convoy in the Iraqi town of Haditha.

After reviewing evidence at a preliminary hearing last month, Maj. Thomas McCann recommended that the criminal charge be dismissed. But he also recommended that prosecutors draw up a new charge of failing to obey an order.

In a report obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, McCann wrote that Stone was "derelict in the performance of his duties," and negligently failed to inform his bosses that the way the Iraqis were killed posed a "possible use of force issue."

McCann recommended the new charge be handled administratively. Non-judicial punishments for officers can include forfeiture of pay and an official admonition.

Stone's attorney, Charles Gittens, did not return several phone calls seeking comment, but in a written response to McCann, he said the recommendation for a new charge was unfounded.

"It took the investigating officer five pages of tortured reasoning to manufacture this highly implausible theory of criminal liability," Gittens wrote.

McCann's recommendation for a new charge is nonbinding. A final decision will be made by Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general overseeing the case who will also decide whether to dismiss the other charges.

Many of those killed were women and children, who died when Marines threw hand grenades into bedrooms then opened fire with machine guns. Three enlisted Marines charged with murder in the case say they were clearing homes the way they had been trained.