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Thursday, March 15, 2007

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SAN DIEGO -- A hearing about the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha has been delayed because of a scheduling conflict, an attorney said Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani was due in a Camp Pendleton courtroom next week for a preliminary hearing, but the investigating officer can't be there, attorney Brian Rooney said. The hearing was rescheduled for May 30.

On Nov. 19, 2005, a Marine squad suffered one fatality when its convoy was rocked by a roadside bomb blast. In the aftermath of the explosion, troops killed 24 Iraqis. Following several investigations, four enlisted Marines were charged in December with unpremeditated murder, and four officers were charged with failing to adequately report the deaths.

Chessani is charged with dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order. He is the highest ranking of eight Marines who were charged.

Rooney said that the charges were without merit and that the defense team would use the delay to review nearly 5,000 pages of newly declassified evidence.

An attorney for 1st Lt. Andrew A. Grayson, another officer charged in the case, said his client may have his pretrial hearing on April 23.

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