SAN DIEGO – Prosecutors have filed a formal appeal of a judge's dismissal of charges against a Marine officer accused of failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis.
An attorney for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani says military prosecutors filed the appeal Monday seeking reinstatement of charges.
A military judge in June dismissed the charges after finding that an investigator improperly influenced a general overseeing the case.
On Nov. 19, 2005, a roadside bomb killed one Marine in Haditha, Iraq. Marines then shot five Iraqis and cleared several houses with grenades and gunfire. Women and children were among the dead.
Eight Marines had been charged with the shooting or with failing to investigate. All but one have seen the charges dropped or have been acquitted.
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