The Marine from Connecticut accused of leading his squad in the 2005 killings of Iraqi civilians will face a court-martial. But the case against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich from Meriden is no longer a murder case. Those charges have been dropped.

Instead, Wuterich will be tried for voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. The date for the court-martial - the military's version of a criminal trial - hasn't been set, though his attorneys have now filed a speedy-trial request.

As squad leader of the Marines involved in the November 2005 incident in the western Iraq city of Haditha, Wuterich has drawn much of the attention in the aftermath, including accusations that he led his men on a vengeful rampage after one of their own was killed.


But Mark Zaid, one of his civilian lawyers, on Monday said, "All of the initial characterizations of what took place that day have completely fallen by the wayside."

Throughout the investigation, Wuterich's legal team has criticized the government for taking the charges beyond what it could prove. "There's a public relations campaign that the Pentagon wishes to wage," Zaid said. "We're prepared fully to deal with it."

The "convening authority" in the case - the high-ranking officer responsible for deciding whether to send it to a court-martial and under what charges - recently was switched to Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland after the previous general was promoted. Helland on Monday announced his decision, which includes dismissal of the unpremeditated murder charges and charges that Wuterich had tried to get another Marine to lie about the incident.

The case already has been heard at a preliminary hearing of the evidence, an "Article 32" investigation, much like a civilian grand jury probe. Wuterich said during the hearing that he was following rules during those hectic minutes more than two years ago, his first time in combat.

He said Haditha was "ominously quiet" before his convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb, killing one Marine and injuring another. He had chosen a different route back to the base from the one they'd taken earlier in the day. "This is one decision I will always regret," he has said.

Wuterich said he was responsible for decisions that led to the deaths of 24 apparent civilians - some shot beside a car and others killed with bullets and grenades in two nearby houses. But he said he and his squad were responding to an attack, as the Marines had been trained to do. "I will bear the memory of the events of that day forever, and will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to the attack."

The investigating officer in the Article 32, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, recommended that the murder charges be thrown out and that the government should proceed with negligent homicide charges, even though Ware's own report cast doubt on being able to prove anything beyond dereliction of duty. Though he was critical of the strength of the evidence, Ware wrote that the importance of the case seemed to warrant a court-martial.

His recommendations were "essentially rejected," Zaid said. The manslaughter charges brought by Helland are a step more severe than negligent homicide.

The brief announcement from the Marine Corps at California's Camp Pendleton didn't provide details on the numbers of counts per charge, nor to which specific deaths the charges are linked.

When Wuterich is arraigned on or before Jan. 9, Zaid said, he'll plead "not guilty." Zaid said the 27-year-old Marine, who is a married father of three and is now on leave with his family, is "relieved" to be heading to trial - the last stage in the long process.

This case has been the most significant criminal investigation of civilian killings so far in the war. But the accusations have changed. Four Marines were charged with murder; none of those murder charges remain. Cases against several Marines have been completely dismissed, including some early accusations that Marine officers failed to investigate - or even covered up - the incident.

However, Wuterich isn't alone in being tried. An officer in his battalion, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, will face his own court-martial on charges of making false official statements and obstructing justice.

Zaid said Wuterich's court-martial means it's "time for the government to put up or shut up." He said he's not anticipating any surprising new evidence. "We're absolutely optimistic that he's going to be acquitted."