Daniel Coburn

Daniel Coburn is a member of the United States Marine Corps. He came to prominence in an incident where he accused his platoon commander, Ilario Pantano, of shooting two unarmed captives while on patrol in Mahmudiyah, Iraq on April 15, 2004. Coburn's accusation was at odds with Pantano's account of events which stated that the shootings were done in self-defence as he was rushed by the insurgent prisoners. Coburn's accusation led to Pantano being charged with murder but was later cleared of any wrongdoing.

April 15th incident

As the platoon approached a compound in

AK47 rifles, 10 AK magazines with assault vests and IED making material."^[1]

When Pantano learned that the compound contained weapons, he ordered Sergeant Daniel Coburn and

Arabic and English,^{[This quote needs a citation]} and when they did not, he shot them. After emptying his magazine, he continued to fire. He later stated: "I then changed magazines and continued to fire until the second magazine was empty...I had made a decision that when I was firing I was going to send a message to these Iraqis and others that when we say, 'No better friend, No worse enemy,' we mean it. I had fired both magazines into the men, hitting them with about 80 percent of my rounds."^{[This quote needs a citation}

]

Indictment

In June 2004, Sergeant Coburn registered a complaint about the incident, triggering a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe.^[1]

On February 1, 2005, Pantano was charged with two counts of premeditated murder, and faced the death penalty if convicted.^[1]

Autopsy report

Prior to Pantano's Article 32 hearing the Department of Defense had maintained that it was impossible to do a post-mortem examination on the corpses of Lieutenant Pantano's captives because they were buried in a cemetery that was in an area that was not under U.S. control. However, shortly before the hearing, bodies were exhumed after all. The autopsy report was released the day after the Article 32 recommendation was made and, according to The Washington Times, supported Lt. Pantano's version of events.^[2]

Witnesses

Medical corpsman George Goble was present but did not witness the danger Lieutenant Pantano reported, because he was looking outwards, as ordered. He later stated when he turned back he saw the Iraqis trying to run away.

Sergeant Coburn is reported to have said "As soon as I turned my back, Lt. Pantano opened [fire] with approximately 45 rounds." Coburn, throughout the case, gave five distinctly separate versions of events. Lieutenant Pantano's defense counsels have said they believe that Sergeant Daniel Coburn's account should not be given any credit because he was disgruntled, having been demoted recently due in part to a poor performance evaluation by Pantano.^[1]^[3]

Another witness, "Corporal 'O' ", was an Arabic-speaking

counter-intelligence duties.^{[citation needed}

]

In his testimony at Pantano's hearing, Corporal "O" described interviewing the two captives.[4] He described seeing the vehicle being searched by other Marines, including the removal of its seats. He described seeing the corpses of the captives, following the shooting, face down, with the heads and torsos in the vehicle and their knees resting on the ground, as if Pantano shot the captives in the back while they were kneeling facing the vehicle. Corporal "O" described the sight as "weird".^{[This quote needs a citation]}

Sergeant Coburn was heavily criticized for some interviews he had given (he was under a gag order) as well as untruths concerning the evidence in the case.^{[citation needed]}

Coburn's internet statements

The

Miranda rights. Coburn returned to the stand three days later after being granted immunity^{[citation needed}

].

Recommendations

Major Winn recommended to Major General Huck, commander of Lieutenant Pantano's division, that the murder charges be dropped. It was his assessment that Sergeant Coburn was an uncredible witness. He did, however, recommend that Pantano receive

U.S. military law, the decision as to whether a court-martial takes place was with General Huck. He decided not to refer the case to a court-martial

.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Scarborough, Ryan. "Witness says accused Marine ordered Iraqis to stop". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
^ Scarborogh, Rowan (May 27, 2005). "Charges dropped against Pantano". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
^ Fishman, Steve (April 25, 2005). "Hell's Kitchen". New York. Archived from the original on March 26, 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
^ Papandrea, Roselee (April 27, 2005). "Pantano hearing opens". The Daily News (Jacksonville, North Carolina). Archived from the original on 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2006-04-24.

[witness-1] Scarborough, Ryan. "Witness says accused Marine ordered Iraqis to stop". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2006-04-24.

[washtimes-2] Scarborogh, Rowan (May 27, 2005). "Charges dropped against Pantano". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2006-04-24.

[nymag-3] Fishman, Steve (April 25, 2005). "Hell's Kitchen". New York. Archived from the original on March 26, 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-24.

[Papandrea-4] Papandrea, Roselee (April 27, 2005). "Pantano hearing opens". The Daily News (Jacksonville, North Carolina). Archived from the original on 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2006-04-24.

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