A charge of reckless assault against former U.S. Marine Wilfredo Santiago for the unintentional shooting of Navy Corpsman John Carpeso in the eye in Iraq in 2008 was dismissed Thursday by Southern District Judge Colleen McMahon (See Profile), who found a due process violation.
In a 56-page opinion, McMahon criticized military investigators and questioned why the case was in a civilian court and had not been court-martialed, saying “His possible prosecution was mired in bureaucracy, an interdepartmental turf war, utter indifference (or embarrassment) on the part of the Marine Corps, and second, third and fourth thoughts about the viability of civilian charges at Justice.”
