Still not charged with crime, sailor wears shackles

Lawyer says 'cruel and unusual' treatment is worse than what some alleged terrorists receive

The attorney for a 20-year-old corpsman � one of a dozen in an infantry company suspected in the April shooting death of an Iraqi man � criticized his treatment at the Camp Pendleton brig, where he's shackled at the hands and feet and held in solitary confinement for all but one hour a day.

Jeremiah "Jay" Sullivan III, a former Navy lawyer, said the sailor's treatment is worse than what some terrorists receive. "Even in Supermax (the federal high-security prison) people get to exercise," Sullivan said Tuesday during a press conference at his downtown office.

Sullivan would not reveal the identity of the sailor, who is married to another corpsman and who was on his second combat tour in Iraq.

No charges had been preferred against the third-class hospital corpsman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, as of Tuesday afternoon, although Sullivan expects the Marine Corps to charge the sailor with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the coming days.

The sailor and seven Marines with 3/5 are being held at the brig at Camp Pendleton, where four other members of their infantry company are being restricted to the base. The rest of the battalion, which deployed in January, remains in Iraq.

"Anytime he is out of the room, he is shackled," Sullivan said, noting that even during an hour-long exercise period, a brig guard keeps one hand on the sailor's waist belt.


"It's cruel and unusual," he added.

Sullivan complained about reports circulated in the news media and in Washington about the actions of the unit, which have come amid allegations that Marines with another unit, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, may have killed 24 Iraqis, including children and women, in Hadithah last November. The men "are being tried on the five o'clock news, and that's wrong," he said.

The attorney believes that his client and the 3/5 men are getting hammered because of the ongoing 3/1 investigation. "There's no question," he said, noting comments made by senior leaders, including President Bush. "There's a huge prejudicial effect," he added.

Sullivan also took offense at reports of purported confessions. "I'm not saying there are confessions," he said. He would not detail the sailor's alleged role in the incident, which he noted was brought to the attention of military authorities by an Iraqi family who wanted payment for a wrongful death.

The sailor has been visited by his wife, who gave birth last year to the couple's daughter, and by Sullivan, who spent several hours on Sunday conferring with him.

The corpsman, a "young-looking kid" who comes from "America's heartland," graduated from high school in 2003 and enlisted in the service. He first deployed to Iraq in 2004 with an infantry battalion that lost 19 men killed in combat, seven of those from the sailor's company. Two of those men, Sullivan said, "died in my client's arms." The corpsman was wounded on that tour and received the Purple Heart medal, although Sullivan did not detail his injuries.

The allegations against him and his unit are "a crushing blow" to the sailor, Sullivan said. But he noted that the dozens of calls his office has received are helping lift his spirits.

The corpsman and the other 11 men from 3/5 were sent from Iraq to Camp Pendleton, where they were immediately placed into confinement or restriction. Sullivan said the corpsman had initially contacted his wife when he got back. But she didn't hear from him until she "got a collect call two days later from the brig," he said.

The sailor's wife has set up a defense fund and a Web site to raise money to help defray the costs of defending any charges in court.

The young couple can talk only through inch-thick Plexiglas. "During the visits, my husband's arms and legs remained shackled at all times," she wrote in a statement posted on the Web site. "I can only speak to my husband through the glass with a guard posted in the room. When I told my husband about the support he has received from across the country, it immediately lifted his spirits."

Contributions may be mailed to: Patriot Defense Fund, P.O. Box 80862, San Diego, CA 92138-0862. All checks should be made payable to the "Patriot Defense Fund."

The Patriot Defense Fund


You can email the Navy Corpman here:HM3@patriotdefensefund.com.

Contact his attorney here:Attorney Jeremiah J. Sullivan's Office at (619) 578-5958.