Marine witness warned of possible perjury charge

A witness called by the defense of a Marine accused of assaulting three Iraqis was told Saturday that he could face criminal charges.

Lance Cpl. Andrew Kraus was read his rights and told he might be charged with making a false official statement and committing perjury during his testimony in a hearing for the accused officer, 2nd Lt. Nathan Phan.

The allegations against Kraus came from the lead prosecutor, Maj. Donald Plowman. The hearing officer, Lt. Col. William Pigott, agreed. After Kraus was read his rights, he told Pigott he wanted a lawyer. He was then ordered out of the courtroom and told to seek legal advice.

The action came after Kraus testified he had no recollection of meeting with the prosecutor in August nor any memory of telling Plowman during that session that his sworn statement that implicated Phan in the assault was accurate.

Plowman told the court that the meeting was witnessed by co-prosecutor Capt. Nicholas Gannon and that during it, Kraus said his statement implicating Phan was correct. Kraus was called by Phan’s defense team after providing a signed, sworn affidavit contending that his original statement, prepared by an agent of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, contained falsehoods and that he never told the agent that he knew of Phan committing an assault.

Kraus is the third of three Marines to make such statements in a hearing for Phan to determine whether the 26-year-old lieutenant and platoon leader from Camp Pendleton’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment will face court-martial.

Evidence of the assaults was uncovered during an investigation into the killing of an Iraqi man in Hamandiya, west of Baghdad, in April. Phan, who commanded the platoon members charged in the killing of a retired Iraqi policeman, was not present when that incident took place and is not connected to the slaying.

But members of the squad charged have said Phan and others assaulted three Iraqis in March and April of last year. He also faces a charge of making a false official statement.