JAG CENTRAL

2LT Ilario Pantano, Wife, and Mother Returning to Courtroom (AP)

From the AP (via ABC News), an update on Day 3 of Marine 2LT Ilario Pantano's Article 32 Hearing to determine whether he should be tried for the double murder of two Iraqis. Defense witnesses testified on how he is a "model Marine":

Six defense witnesses spoke glowingly of 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano at a military pretrial hearing at one point moving him to tears after the prosecution closed its case with two Marines who described Pantano as sometimes overzealous or rough in his handling of prisoners.

"He's a great Marine," testified former Marine Martin McPherson, who served under Pantano in Iraq. "He had the attention to detail you need to bring back your men alive. He knew exactly what he needed to do, and he did it."
....
Defense witness Lt. Nathan Dmochowski, who trained with Pantano and served with him in Iraq, recalled one instructor who said hanging threatening signs could help Marines in hostile areas.

"If nothing else works, sir, when you've been in that environment … you have to figure out ways to enforce your will upon the enemy," Dmochowski said.

Dmochowski said Pantano embraced the humanitarian element of the military's mission "almost to the point he endangered himself." He recalled a time when Pantano went door-to-door shaking hands until he was pulled away by worried colleagues.

Lance Cpl. James Faleris, a machine gunner who worked under Pantano in Iraq, said the officer gave local children candy, toys and soccer balls, and made his platoon study Iraqi language and culture for an hour each day as they prepared to deploy.

"He's hands-down the best officer I've ever had the privilege to serve under," Faleris said.

ANALYSIS: Maybe...but he's probably going to trial. All the investigating officer needs to find is probable cause. The amount of bulletholes in the bodies of the Iraqis (2LT Pantano reportedly emptied two magazines into them), the sign hung around their necks after they were dead, and the anecdotal evidence that they were shot in the back lends plenty of probable cause to the prosecution. The character witnesses are fairly irrelevant at this stage of the trial; while the good soldier defense may create reasonable doubt, it has no place at a preliminary hearing.