Special Agent M. A. Platt, NCIS, was called as a witness by the prosecution, was sworn, and testified as follows:

DIRECT EXAMINATION

Questions by Captain Hur:

Q. Special Agent Platt, please state your full name for the record.

A. My name is Mark Allen Platt.

Q. What is your current occupation?

A. I am a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Q. And how long have you been employed with them?

A. Approximately six and a half years.

Q. And what sort of tasks do you currently do with NCIS?

A. I am a foreign counter-intelligence agent based out of Washington D.C.

Q. Do you have any law enforcement roles that you conduct in your employment with NCIS?

A. Typically, yes. But in the current billet that I occupy right now, there is no crime scene or law enforcement function.

Q. What law enforcement functions have you conducted with NCIS in the past?

A. I started my career as a special agent here at Camp Pendleton for two years. I was part of our major case response team, which is our crime scene team. I also served as a violent crimes investigator and a narcotics investigator during that tour.

From there, I transferred to our overseas office in the Middle East in Bahrain where I served as the team leader for our major case response team. I conducted criminal investigations in the Middle East. That would include Central Asia, Middle East, East Africa.

After that, I moved on to Washington D.C. where, in the current billet, again, I don't have -- based on the nature of the investigations that we conduct in my current unit, there is no real criminal function.

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Q. With regards to crime scene investigations, have you ever done any crime scene investigations with entities other than NCIS?

A. Yes, I have.

Q. What are those entities?

A. First job out of graduate school, I was a death investigator for the Mericopa County Medical Examiner's office in Phoenix, Arizona.

Q. Any other jobs?

A. I served an internship with the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's office as an undergraduate in college.

Q. Any other employment experience with crime scene investigations?

A. No.

Q. What about specialized training and education with regard to crime scene investigations?

A. I have a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Westchester University in Westchester, Pennsylvania. Again, while I was an undergraduate student, I served a 12-week internship with the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's office where I assisted in processing of death scenes. Following my undergraduate studies, I attended George Washington University in Washington D.C. where I earned a Masters Degree in Forensic Science. During my tenure as a graduate student, I performed an internship with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service death investigations unit for approximately nine months.

Q. Yes. Now, do you know the accused, Lance Corporal

Justin L. Sharrat?

A. Yes, I do.

Q. If I were to ask you to identify him today, would you please.

The witness identified the accused.

Questions by Captain Hur continued:

Q. Are you aware of why we're here today?

A. I am.

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Q. What is your understanding?

A. This hearing is to determine if there is enough evidence to go forward with the court-martial of Lance Corporal Sharratt based on his involvement in the activities in Haditha, Iraq on 19 November 2005.

Q. Now, with regards to your involvement in that investigation with regards to Lance Corporal Sharratt, when did you first become involved?

A. I was scheduled to deploy to Iraq in the latter part of March on an unrelated mission. I received a call from our headquarters about ten days before my scheduled deployment. They asked if I would deploy early to participate in this investigation. At the time, I had very little detail of what had occurred. I said, Okay, no problem, and deployed early. I arrived in Haditha on or about 23 March. I don't remember exactly.

Q. Before arriving out to the scene in Haditha, what had you been briefed about the case?

A. Again, very little. There was a telephone call that I received that basically stated there is a Marine convoy that was attacked, and subsequent action by the Marine unit resulted in the death of a number of Iraqi civilians. That was about the extent of the brief that I had before I deployed.

Q. So would it be fair to say when you got out to the scene at Haditha you didn't have any preconceived notions one way or the other if a crime had taken place or not?

A. That is correct. I knew very little about the incident.

Q. So you are at the scene at Haditha. What is the first action that you take with regards to beginning your investigation in this case?

A. Upon arrival, I was briefed by Special Agent Mannle as to the facts that were known to that point. And the first investigative step that I participated in was I was the secondary in an interview of Lance Corporal Sharratt where he was asked questions regarding his training prior to the deployment and the laws of armed conflict, positively identifying targets.

Q. Was there anything else that that interview discussed?

A. No. That interview was strictly based on a questionnaire that was produced by the Army during the course of their administrative investigation of this incident. That particular interview was solely to answer the questions presented by the Army.

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Q. I understand. And you said it had to do with training as opposed to his actions that day on 19 November?

A. That's correct. We didn't get into his actions on 19 November whatsoever.

Q. Do you recall where that interview with Lance Corporal Sharratt took place?

A. Yes, I do.

Q. Where did it take place?

A. It was in the room that was currently being occupied by Special Agent Mannle, which I believe was on the third deck of the dam.

Q. Do you recall who was present during that interview?

A. Yes, I do. It was myself, Special Agent Mannle, and Lance Corporal Sharratt.

Q. How big was that interview room?

A. About the size of this room here, possibly a little smaller.

Q. With just three people present?

A. Correct.

Q. Was anybody armed during this interview to the best of your recollection?

A. No, I don't believe anybody was.

IO: Captain, why don't you estimate the size of this room. He said it is the size of the room, so why don't you put the dimensions in for the record.

TC[Capt Hur]: May the government get back to the IO with the

dimensions of this room, sir?

Questions by Captain Hur continued:

Q. Would you say the dimensions of this room would be abouts 20 feet by 20 feet?

A. That is pretty close, yes.

Q. Thank you, Agent Platt. Continuing on, would you describe your interview with Lance Corporal Sharratt confrontational or non-confrontational?

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A. Very non-confrontational.

Q. If I were to mention the phrases "interview" and "interrogation," would you know what I'm talking about?

A. Yes, I would.

Q. Is there a difference between the two?

A. Sure.

Q. What is the difference between the two words?

A. Interrogation basically is where you are trying to elicit incriminating information from an individual where as I would describe an interview as more of a person who is a witness that was not involved in any sort of criminal activity.

Q. And was your -- we described it as an interview with Lance Corporal Sharratt. Was it more of an interview or interrogation?

A. In this case, although he was advised to his rights prior to, this was more of an interview. It had nothing to do with the incident that was being investigated. It had more to do with his training.

Q. I know you don't have the statement in front of you right now, but do you recall the rights you advised Lance Corporal Sharrat?

A. I don't recall for sure, but I believe he was advised for a LOAC violation.

Q. Was that because that was all you suspected at the time?

A. At the time. That was very early on in the investigation. That is what was suspected.

Q. How long did this interview take place?

A. I don't recall exactly. But if I had to guess, I would say in the neighborhood of an hour and a half to two hours.

Q. So it wasn't very long?

A. No, it wasn't long.

Q. Were there any breaks in the interview that you remember?

A. I remember one break where Lance Corporal Sharratt stepped out on the balcony and had a cigarette. I don't know if we took a formal break during the interview.

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However, he asked if he could smoke a cigarette; and we allowed him to do so.

Q. Any other breaks that you remember?

A. None that I recall.

Q. After the interview with Lance Corporal Sharratt, did you interview anybody else out at the dam?

A. On that day, no, I did not.

Q. What about in the days following?

A. I returned to the dam approximately ten days to two weeks later --

Q. Let my interrupt you. You say you returned to the dam. Where did you go in between?

A. I moved over to Fallujah, which is where my permanent temporary duty assignment was going to be when I was based in Iraq. So I left the dam to get established there and check in with Seal Team 3, who I was assigned to for my deployment in Iraq. I checked in with them and then returned to the dam to do some follow-up interviews.

Q. So when you returned to the dam to do follow-up interviews, who did you interview?

A. I ended up going out to the forward operation base, which was identified as Sparta at the time. From there, I went out to the City of Haditha and interviewed two of the women who were present. And their husbands were killed in the house that we designated as house four on 19 November.

Q. And we will discuss that. Before I do, if you were to mention interviews taking place in the basement of the dam, would you know what I am talking about?

A. Yes, I do.

Q. Did you conduct any interviews in the basement of the dam?

A. No, I did not.

Q. Why not?

A. Those interviews were conducted prior to my arrival at the dam.

Q. Do you know why you didn't conduct any interviews down there and continue using that area?

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A. I believe those spaces were being used. When I conducted the interview with Special Agent Mannle of Lance Corporal Sharratt, I believe they were using those spaces. At the time, the RIP, or the exchange of battalions, was going on. So there was an excess of personnel. We were using every space that was made available to us, which is why we conducted the interview of Lance Corporal Sharratt in Special Agent Mannle's room.

Q. Would it be fair to say conditions were pretty crowded when these interviews were going on?

A. That's correct.

Q. Your next investigative action after the Lance Corporal Sharratt interview, you say you went out to the scene of where the deaths took place?

A. That is correct.

Q. Just limiting our discussion to the Lance Corporal Sharratt case, did you make it up to the house where Lance Corporal Sharratt's actions took place in?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. Describe your role at that destination.

A. My role was to provide assistance in the preservation and collection of evidence. At that scene, my focus, along with Special Agent Tom Brady and Special Agent Mike Maloney, who are our forensic consultants that were deployed, was specifically focused on the bedroom where the four Iraqi males were killed in house four.

Q. Who was in charge of that investigation?

A. Primarily Special Agent Maloney and Special Agent Brady.

Q. Why was that?

A. They had far superior experience and tenure with NCIS.

Q. Now, are you aware that a forensic report was created as a result of this evidence gathering?

A. Yes, I am.

Q. Do you know who authored that report?

A. I believe it was authored by Special Agent Maloney.

Q. Have you ever looked at this report?

A. I have not.

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Q. Do you have any knowledge of what is actually in the report?

A. No, I do not.

Q. So what are your personal observations when you entered that back bedroom in house four?

A. Prior to our arrival at house four, we had no photographs from that house. The previous team of NCIS agents that had deployed out into that area, for whatever reason, the photographs that they took at house four somehow were compromised. So they had nothing; nothing on the outside, nothing on the inside, nothing of the area adjacent to house four. So we made the determination that we were going to go to house four first, being that we had nothing from that house.

Q. Do you remember what approximate day and month this was?

A. Right at the end of March. It was probably around 28, 29 March.

Q. So you entered the back bedroom. What do you see?

A. I was very surprised. You could clearly see what we believed were bloodstain patterns on the wall with the naked eye.

Q. When you say "bloodstain patterns," how did you know it was blood?

A. At the time, did not know. But based on my training and previous experience at death scenes, the stains I saw on the walls were consistent with bloodstain patterns I had seen previously in my career.

Q. So you see the red stains on the wall. What else do you see?

IO: Wait a minute. Were they red still?

WIT[SA Platt]: They had turned a brownish tint. They were not a very bright red. They had obviously degraded over time. The stains were a brownish tint, but clearly visible with the naked eye.

Questions by Captain Hur continued:

Q. You see the stains on the wall. What else do you see?

A. Quick look around the room, we saw several holes in the wall that appeared to be defects caused by projectiles and saw a hole in the window on the south side of the

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room that appeared to have been caused by a projectile. There was a bed in the room, a wheelchair, and a closet along the east wall. And this closet is not like an American-style closet where it is built into the wall. This is actually one that is movable and was actually not a fixed structure within that room. It could be moved.

Q. What about shell casings, did you see any of those?

A. There were no shell casings in the room.

Q. You say you saw holes in the wall that appeared consistent with bullets. Did you gather any evidence with that regard?

A. Yes, we did.

Q. What did you gather?

A. We recovered two projectiles from the walls of that room. One of the projectiles was recovered from the east wall behind the closet. That was recovered when we moved the closet away from the wall. I got in behind the closet and used a utility tool to probe the area around the defect and discovered what appeared to me to be a 5.56 projectile.

Q. Now, you are no ballistics expert. Correct?

A. No, I'm not.

Q. And you didn't do the actual ballistics analysis in this case. Correct?

A. No, I did not.

Q. Do you know who did that?

A. I believe it was performed by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Laboratory.

Q. So you grabbed that fragment. Did you grab any other fragments?

A. Yes, we did. After we discovered that one, we moved over to the south wall where we had a similar defect in the wall and probed that region and recovered what appeared to me to be a 9-millimeter projectile from the south wall.

Q. Again, you have no way of knowing whether that was a 9-millimeter fragment or some other fragment?

A. That's correct. I did not know.

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Q. Was any other evidence gathered in that room?

A. Samples of all the major groupings of what we believed to be bloodstains were taken for future DNA analysis.

Q. You had mentioned earlier today that you ended up interviewing some Iraqi witnesses. How did that happen?

A. Again, those interviews occurred after I was initially at the dam. I departed for Fallujah and returned to the dam about a week or ten days later, arranged for these interviews to be conducted. I was escorted from the forward operating base by the Marines to house four where I conducted the interviews in a living room.

Q. How many days after the deaths did these interviews take place, approximately?

A. It was approximately ten days.

Q. Do you recall who you interviewed?

A. Yes, I do.

Q. Who did you interview?

A. The first interview I conducted was a young Iraqi female by the name of Ehab.

Q. Who else did you interview?

A. I interviewed her sister-in-law, Nagham.

Q. Was there anybody else you interviewed that day?

A. No, there was not.

Q. Did you interview any other Iraqi witnesses during the

course of this investigation?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. We will discuss those in a moment. With regards to your interviews with Ehab and Nagham, how did the interviews take place?

A. Again, conducted the interviews in the living room of house four. The interviews were conducted in Arabic. I would ask a question in English. It would be translated by the interpreter provided by the Marine Corps. He would ask the Iraqi female the questions I had. She would respond. And he would provide me with the answers to those questions.

Q. Do you recall who else was present during these interviews other than yourself, the witness, and the interpreter?

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A. Yes, the 3/3 legal officer, Captain Josh Girton, was present.

Q. Anybody else?

A. Yes. The lawyer representing some of the victims of the 19 November incident was present. Ehab and Nagham's father-in-law was present in the room. And from time to time, the civil affairs officer from 3/3 was coming and going as the interview was being conducted.

Q. Were Ehab and Nagham both present during each other's respective interviews, or were they separate?

A. They were separate.

Q. Now, when these interviews took place, were you armed?

A. Yes, I was.

Q. With what?

A. I had a 9-millimeter pistol on my right leg, and I had an M4 long arm that I took off and set down on the ground next to me.

Q. Were any of the other coalition troops there armed?

A. Yes. All the Marines were armed.

Q. With rifles?

A. Yes.

Q. Do you recall how long each one of these interviews took

place?

A. I don't recall exactly. But they were probably in the neighborhood of an hour and a half to two hours. The second interview was cut short by some activity going on outside.

Q. Did you see the witnesses Ehab and Nagham discuss each other's testimony before, during, or after your interview with them?

A. No, I did not.

Q. Did you ever hear that they had done so?

A. No, I did not.

Q. Now, in your interview with Ehab and Nagham, were there any inconsistencies between what they told you?

A. There were subtle differences to their statement. But for the most part, their statements were consistent.

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Q. Let's explore the differences. What were they?

A. Differences being that Ehab, on the morning of 19 November, she was sleeping with her husband and was awoken by a loud noise that she believed to be an explosion. After that, the family gathered in the hallway. Ehab and the rest of the family -- no one went outside of the confined courtyard area of houses three and four. They stayed within that area. They were going to have breakfast. Approximately 9:45 -- Ehab recalled that she knew it was 9:45 because she was in the kitchen preparing breakfast at the time when her husband called out to her, The Marines are here, they would like to search the house, and everybody needs to come outside.

All the family members in houses three and four came out into the courtyard area. Again, houses three and four share a common courtyard. And those houses are surrounded by a high cinder block wall.

Once outside, Ehab said there were three Marines present. The Marines had the family members get in two distinct lines. One of the lines was for the women, children, and elderly. The other line was for adult males. Ehab stated that she recalls the Marines asking about a bomb. Ehab advised that the Marines were notified there was one AK-47 in each house, house three and four. Ehab stated that the Marines escorted one of the males -- one of the Iraqi males into each house. And the Marines took custody of the AK-47 assault rifles and brought them back outside. Once outside, Ehab stated the Marines told the women, children, and the elderly to go into house number three. And the adult males were told to go in house number four.

One of the individuals that was initially grouped with the adult males was a young Iraqi boy by the name of Khalaia. He started to go into house four. When he did that, Ehab stated she called out to Khalaia and said, Khalaia, come back. Khalaia came back and joined the group of women, children, and elderly and went into house four. And she stated that the Marines did not object to that.

Ehab stated that two of the Marines took the adult males into house four. All the other family members were ushered into house three by the third Marine who was

Discovery 27 Jul 07 00164

pushing them and pointing his rifle at them. The Marine that took the women and the children and the elderly into house three put them all in the house and closed the door behind them.

IO: I am going to stop you just for a second. The question was asking for differences between the two. And I haven't heard anything about the other person. You have given me a long recitation. I have had the benefit of reading the transcript, and I heard testimony yesterday. What I am hoping you can get to is what were the differences.

WIT[SA Platt]: The differences being Nagham, the other woman I interviewed, she was awake at the time the explosion or the loud noise was heard. Her and her husband were preparing for a trip to Baghdad. So she was awake, whereas Ehab was still sleeping.

Questions by Captain Hur continued:

Q. Were there any inconsistencies in their versions of events?

A. No, they were both pretty consistent.

Q. So just the fact that one was awake and the other was sleeping when the IED went off?

A. That's correct.

IO: That's the only difference?

WIT[SA Platt]: No. There are other subtle differences.

IO: Let him finish answering the differences. That's what I'm interested in.

WIT[SA Platt]: Another difference being is once the men, women, and children were -- before I get to that, there was a subtle difference when it came to when the Marines ordered everybody to sit down in the courtyard. One of the women stated that once all the family members were out in the courtyard, they were ordered to immediately sit down, whereas the other female stated that it was not until after the Marines had escorted two of the men into houses three and four and retrieved the AK-47s and had custody of them. It was after that that the Marines ordered everybody to sit down in the courtyard.

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Questions by Captain Hur continued:

Q. Do you recall who said which version of events?

A. No, I do not.

Q. Would anything refresh your memory?

A. If I saw the statements, I could confirm that.

TC[Capt Hur]: With your permission, sir, may I show the witness Exhibits 35 and 56, previously introduced?

IO: You may.

TC[Capt Hur]: I have here Investigative Exhibit 35 and Investigative Exhibit 36. 35 is the interview with Ehab. And 36 is the interview of Nagham. Would you please review those and refresh your memory.

WIT[SA Platt]: Okay. With regard to that point we were just discussing --

TC[Capt Hur]: Government is grabbing 35 and 36 from the witness and returning it to the government's table. Please continue.

WIT[SA Platt]: With regard to that point that we were just discussing regarding the family members sitting down in the courtyard, Nagham is the one that stated they were ordered to sit down immediately upon getting their entrance into the courtyard. And they were told not to look at the Marines. Ehab stated that it was not until the Marines had control of the AK-47s that they were told to sit down.

Another difference being after the explosion went off, Nagham and her husband Marwan walked from house four to house three. And Nagham observed that the windows in house three had been broken. It was of her opinion that the windows were broken due to the explosion that had occurred.

IO: What did Ehab have to say?

WIT[SA Platt]: Ehab did not ever leave house four until the Marines arrived.

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Questions by Captain Hur continued:

Q. Were there any other differences that you recall now that your memory has been refreshed?

A. The only other difference that I can really recall is Ehab departed the residence, house four, prior to the removal of the deceased, whereas Nagham, I believe, was there throughout the entire process.

Q. Any other differences?

A. Those are all that I can recall.

Q. You mentioned that you had interviewed some other Iraqi witnesses. Who were they?

A. I interviewed an Iraqi male by the name of Yusuf. Yusuf is the brother of the four Iraqi males who were killed in house four.

Q. Was Yusuf an eyewitness to the events that took place that day?

A. No, he wasn't.

Q. He did not actually observe any of the facts that Ehab and Nagham discussed with you?

A. No, he did not.

Q. Did you interview any U. S. Marines or coalition forces later in the investigation?

A. No, I did not. Not relative to this incident, no.

TC[Capt Hur]: That's all for now, sir.

IO: Major Erickson, did the government provide me a IA report on the interview with Yusuf?

CC[Mr. Culp]: I have one, sir.

TC[Maj Erickson]: The government did not provide that.

IO: Is that one of the defense exhibits as well?

CC[Mr. Culp]: It wasn't until today, sir.

IO: So you would like this to be marked as a defense exhibit?

CC[Mr. Culp]: 11c, because all of the interviews are put into

Defense Exhibit 11.

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IO: I am not a big fan of going A, B, C plus numbers. So your last one we have is what?

CC[Mr. Culp]: I believe 53.

IO: All right. We will mark this 54. Any objection to this being marked Defense Exhibit 54?

TC[Maj Erickson]: No objection, sir.

IO: I need a minute to read this. You may examine the witness.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

Questions by Mr. Culp:

Q. Let's go back in time and talk about Agent Mannle and your interactions with Agent Mannle.

A. Okay.

Q. Agent Mannle told you that she interviewed Lance Corporal Sharratt. Correct?

A. I don't recall her telling me that.

Q. You interviewed Lance Corporal Sharratt on 24 March 2006. Do you remember that?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. Agent Mannle didn't tell you that she had conducted an interview with Lance Corporal Sharratt a few days before on 19 March 2006?

A. Yes, she did state that. Yes.

Q. And you are a good investigator?

A. Um-hum.

Q. And you read that statement?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. So you knew when Lance Corporal Sharratt said he entered house four that he confronted a guy -- he was in the hallway and confronted somebody in the doorway of that bedroom. Correct?

A. Yes, I did.

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Q. He had said that?

A. I don't recall exactly what he said in the first statement that he provided. But if it is in the statement taken by Agent Mannle, yes, I did read it.

Q. You knew what his version of events were that day. Correct?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. And you knew that the stories told by the Iraqis that you interviewed were diametrically opposed to his version of events. Correct?

A. That is not correct, because I did not interview the Iraqi witnesses until after I interviewed Lance Corporal Sharratt.

Q. Let's talk about that. You know that there was an interview by Agent Mannle of this family in March. Correct, 29 March?

A. Yes. That interview was conducted on the day where we were processing house four -- the death scene in house four.

Q. Correct. And you read the results of those interviews. Correct?

A. No, I did not.

Q. Is it your testimony that you went out to house four and interviewed Nagham and Ehab on 6 April of 2006 and did not know what these people had told Agent Mannle on 29 March?

A. No. I was aware of what had been told to Agent Mannle. However, I did not read the statement.

Q. Why not? Why wouldn't you do that?

A. Shortly after we processed houses one, two, and four on 29 March, the team initially disbursed. Again, I had to go to Fallujah to check in with the unit that I was in Iraq to support. I returned to Haditha dam later to conduct the interviews that were conducted in April. At the time that we left the dam, I am not even positive that Agent Mannle had prepared that statement yet. If she did, I hadn't read it.

Q. But you knew that Lance Corporal Sharratt said that he had taken a suitcase from house four. Correct?

A. I knew that one of the Marines had removed a suitcase from house four. I did not know specifically which Marine it was.

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CC[Mr. Culp]: Can I have Lance Corporal Sharratt's statement?

Questions by Mr. Culp continued:

Q. You read Lance Corporal Sharratt's statement that he gave on 19 March?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. This is close in time -- you went and interviewed Ehab and Nagham on 6 April. Correct?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. And you know what Lance Corporal Sharratt had said in his statement when you went on 6 April to Haditha?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. And you knew that he said that he had taken a suitcase containing Jordanian passports from the house?

A. I am sure at the time I conducted the interviews of Ehab and Nagham I was well aware of that fact. Here today in this courtroom, I am not sure what Lance Corporal Sharratt's statement said.

Q. If I showed you Lance Corporal Sharratt's statement, would it refresh your recollection as to whether or not you would know on 6 April that he had said he had taken a suitcase from the house?

A. Yes, I would.

CC[Mr. Culp]: Your Honor, can I approach?

IO: I think you are talking about Investigative Exhibit 44, unless there is another one on 19 March.

CC[Mr. Culp]: This is the 19 March statement.

IO: So it is Investigative Exhibit 44.

CC[Mr. Culp]: It's been duplicated. I will just refer to it as Investigative Exhibit 44.

IO: Sure. You can show him a copy of it.

CC[Mr. Culp]: Just look, if you would, right in the middle where my thumb is and just read that paragraph to yourself.

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IO: What page are you on?

CC[Mr. Culp]: 7 of 8, sir.

Questions by Mr. Culp continued:

Q. Did Special Agent Mannle tell you that it had been reported to her in her interviews of 29 March that the family members had confirmed that a suitcase was taken from their home? Did she tell you that?

A. I don't recall exactly what Agent Mannle told me in March of '06. But if that came up during the statement, I am sure I was aware of it at the time.

Q. But when you interviewed Ehab on 6 April 2006, knowing that Lance Corporal Sharratt had said he had taken a suitcase from that house containing Jordanian passports, Ehab told you something about a suitcase, didn't she?

A. Yes, she did.

Q. Why don't you tell the investigating officer what she told you about that suitcase.

A. I believe Ehab's statement was that after the four men were killed in house four, the women moved from house three to house four and saw that the four men were dead. Shortly thereafter, four other Marines arrived at the scene; and Ehab stated these four Marines were different from the initial three Marines who were at house four.

Ehab stated the Marines again ordered the family into the courtyard. Two of the Marines stayed outside. Two went inside the house. One of the Marines removed a suitcase that Ehab stated belonged to her brother-in-law Kahtan.

Q. So Ehab said that the family was broken up into two groups on two different occasions?

A. Well, the second occasion, they weren't broken up into two groups. The Marines again brought them out into a courtyard, and the Marines split up. Two stayed outside, two went into the house.

Q. And those were two different Marines?

A. According to her, yes, they were.

Q. And NCIS has never found this other group of Marines who went to Ehab's house. Is that correct?

A. That is correct.

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Q. Let's talk about that person, Kahtan. Her brother-in-law is Kahtan?

A. I believe that is how you pronounce the name.

Q. Now, you knew on 6 April that Lance Corporal Sharratt said he had taken a suitcase containing Jordanian passports. Fair to say that you were briefed, Hey, we don't know where that briefcase is. Right?

A. That is correct.

Q. You guys didn't think it existed, didn't you?

A. Well, at that point, we had yet to recover those documents.

Q. And it was suspicious to you?

A. Yes, it was.

Q. As a matter of fact, that was one of the things that NCIS thought was a hole in Lance Corporal Sharratt's version of events. Correct? Let me rephrase that.

If Lance Corporal Sharratt had taken a suitcase with Jordanian passports, NCIS was pretty sure it would exist, somebody would have it if that was true?

A. Again, we had not found the documents to that point. And we were actively pursuing them.

Q. Everywhere?

A. To the best of our ability.

Q. Because you thought if you found the suitcase with Jordanian passports, that would corroborate Lance Corporal Sharratt's statement that he had taken the suitcase. Correct?

A. Obviously, it would corroborate his statement, yes.

Q. Furthermore, if there was a suitcase with Jordanian passports in this home, it might call into question the identity of the people in the home?

A. It certainly would.

Q. Jordanian passports, may be insurgent?

A. You could make that stretch.

Q. You would have made that stretch?

A. That was certainly a theory.

Q. What did Ms. Ehab tell you about her brother-in-law Kahtan?

Discovery 27 Jul 07 00172  

A. She stated that he had a job at the Jordanian-Iraqi border. That morning, he was preparing to head out to his job. I believe the city was called Traviel [ph], but I am not exactly sure.

Q. In your interview of Ehab and Nagham, they never reported to you that they had a discussion with Lance Corporal Sharratt about who these men were and where they worked, specifically Kahtan. Correct?

A. One of the women stated the Marines were advised that one of the males was a traffic officer. That is why he had an AK-47. But that is all I believe was discussed.

Q. Okay. As an investigator, did it ever cross your mind -- did the thought ever cross your mind or did the question ever come into your head, how would Lance Corporal Sharratt know that one of these people perhaps worked on the Jordanian border? Did you think he had any of that knowledge?

A. I didn't know.

Q. Okay. So we're on 6 April. Somewhere around 29 March, you read his statement. You knew he said he had taken a suitcase, that it contained Jordanian passports. Correct?

A. Yes, I did.

IO: One second. Did he tell you it had Jordanian passports in it?

WIT[SA Platt]: His statement stated that it had Jordanian passports in it.

IO: Where does it say that? It simply says passports. That's why I want to know where does Jordanian passports get imported into that paragraph. I am only saying that because counsel keep saying Jordanian passports. And I keep reading this and can't find the word "Jordanian" anywhere in that statement. The page you directed me to, the paragraph says, "found three or four passports."

CC[Mr. Culp]: Yes, sir.

IO: What kind of passports are they?

Discovery 27 Jul 07 00173

CC[Mr. Culp]: I am actually incorporating some other statements into that question.

IO: But the question you keep asking this agent, and he keeps adopting, saying that he said Jordanian passports. That is my concern is he is just adopting your phraseology.

Questions by Mr. Culp continued:

Q. You read the statement of Corporal Salinas? Corporal Salinas was one of the three Marines who had gone to house four. Have you read his statement?

A. Which date was the statement taken on?

Q. Did you read the statements that had been given by Corporal Salinas up to that point in time?

A. All the statements that had been taken prior to us going to houses one, two, and four on the 29th of March, I read, yes.

Q. And Corporal Salinas had identified that he had been told they were Jordanian passports?

A. I don't recall exactly which Marine stated they were Jordanian passports. But to the best of my knowledge, that is what we were looking for was Jordanian passports.

Q. Okay. When Ehab stated to you that the suitcase had in fact been taken from that house by a group of Marines, a second group of Marines that you have never been able to find, what, if any, conclusions did you draw in your mind?

A. I didn't really draw any conclusions. That question -- or her statement was based on a response to a question that I had asked. She did not offer that information. I asked that question specifically trying to track down these missing passports.

Q. But this was a pinnacle moment, wouldn't you say, that she told you that Kahtan worked on the Jordanian border and his suitcase had been taken?

A. Certainly, it led me closer to trying to track down the passports.

Q. What did you find out about Mr. Kahtan?

A. I personally did not find out anything about him.

Q. NCIS didn't go to his place of employment near the

Discovery 27 Jul 07 00174

Jordanian border and try to determine what exactly he

did?

A. To my knowledge, I do not know if NCIS went to his place of employment. I personally did not.

Q. Why not?

A. Again, I was in Iraq working with Seal Team 3. My involvement with the Haditha incident was specifically to processing the crime scenes. And then on three additional occasions, I went back to conduct follow-up interviews. I was not privy to all the information that was going on and all the interviews that were being conducted back here at Camp Pendleton and elsewhere. So basically, when I would get a task to do an interview, I was sent a specific list of questions and said, Interview this individual and ask these questions. I did not have a complete knowledge of everything that was going on in the investigation.

CC[Mr. Culp]: Sir, I just want to direct your attention to the Corporal Salinas statement that is Defense Exhibit 4 that was taken on 18 March 2006.

IO: I see it. Is it Investigative Exhibit 48 where it says, Jordanian passports, etcetera?

CC[Mr. Culp]: Yes, sir.

IO: And that is a conversation between Sharratt and Salinas?

CC[Mr. Culp]: Yes, sir.

IO: I just want to make it clear because you kept saying after he looked at that document that they were Jordanian passports. I wanted to know if he had an independent knowledge of that or if he was just -- if you are adopting that, and what happens a lot of times is witnesses just adopt what the counsel say because you are so convincing as you pursue your line of questioning. I think it is clear that Sharratt said there were passports. I just want to make sure it's clear because these things have a way of changing.

CC[Mr. Culp]: Yes, sir.

Questions by Mr. Culp continued:

Q. You conducted an interview, not interrogation, of Lance Corporal Sharratt on 24 March?

Discovery 27 Jul 07 00175

A. Yes, I did.

Q. You went to the crime scene on 28 or 29 March with Special Agent Brady and Special Agent Maloney?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. You went to house four on 6 April and interviewed Ehab and Nagham?

A. Yes, I did.

Q. You went back to house four and interviewed Yusuf on 8 June?

A. Not house four. Yusuf was interviewed at the H