60 Minutes 'Killings in Haditha' Features Alumnus
"In an insurgency situation, Marines don't get a second chance," Neal A. Puckett, JD'84, said in a special double segment of CBS's 60 Minutes. "If they aren't able to fire first, they die." Puckett and Mark Zaid act as Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's civilian attorneys.
Wuterich is charged with the murders of 18 people in the Iraqi town of Haditha. On Nov. 19, 2005, United States Marines killed 24 civilians after an explosion destroyed a military vehicle and the men inside it. The dead included men, women, and children as young as 2 years old.
The defense argues that the killings were lawful. "They were not done without legal justification or excuse," Puckett says."They were done in a combat environment, in a tactical situation, in order to protect the lives of the remaining Marines who survived the IED that day. And that makes them lawful."
About Neal Puckett
Puckett is a former military trial judge who has performed successful defense of accused service members in 12 states and at least six countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Spain, and Japan. Puckett previously defended the female general who oversaw Abu Ghraib, and his resume includes more than 1,000 military cases, Article 32 investigations, Special and General Courts-Martial, administrative discharge proceedings, and Officer Boards of Inquiry.
Prior to appointment as a military judge, Puckett served as prosecutor and defense attorney, representing more than 320 clients and litigating 30 jury trials. A certified trial practitioner, he has excelled in the investigation, preparation, and presentation of felony criminal cases to juries and has successfully defended service members accused of felony crimes such as homicide, sexual assault, nd child abuse cases.
He is also a member of the prosecution trial team for National Security cases involving allegations of espionage conducted at the U.S. Embassies in Moscow and Vienna.