Marines Want Another Crack at Lt. Col. Chessani

Despite a judge dismissing the charges without prejudice, the US Marine Corps is looking to reinstate the charges against Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani in relation to their claim of dereliction of duty.

The appeal was filed, but cited no basis for its appeal. It is almost as though they were going through the motions as the Marine Corps had three days in which to file the appeal.

Chessani, 44, is charged with dereliction of duty and failure to obey a direct order for not launching a war-crimes investigation into the killings.

Folsom ruled that Mattis erred by allowing Col. John Ewers, a Marine lawyer, to attend meetings where the Haditha prosecutions were discussed. Ewers was one of the lead investigators early in the case and most likely would be a key witness if Chessani goes to court-martial.

In its filing with the appeals court, the prosecution did not cite any basis for its appeal. Folsom had given prosecutors three days to appeal his ruling. He also permitted the Marine Corps to refile the charges although he ruled that the refiling would have to be done by a new convening authority not connected to the Camp Pendleton-based Marine Forces Central Command.

Considering that the charges against six of the seven other people indicted in the Haditha incident were exonerated or had the charges dropped, this is likely the only way that the prosecution could hedge its bets to get a single conviction, if any are to be had.