CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.—A military judge has granted a seven-week delay for a court-martial for a Marine charged with failing to adequately investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha.
A lawyer for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani says the judge agreed Tuesday to push back the trial from April 28 to June 17. The judge wants to consider defense claims that military officials came under “undue command influence” to charge against their client.
Attorney Brian Rooney says the judge ordered former Marine commandant Gen. Michael Hagee to testify at a hearing in May. A defense request to depose Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha over comments he made about the November 2005 killings was denied.
Chessani is from Rangely, Colo.
