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San Diego Union-Tribune
November 1, 2007 He's charged with killing Iraqi soldier
By Rick Rogers, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON– In the months before Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes fatally stabbed an Iraqi soldier in their sentry outpost, military doctors were treating him with drugs for anxiety and insomnia, his attorneys said this week.
The revelations come about a month before the start of Holmes' court-martial at Camp Pendleton. They provide further evidence that defense lawyers, as part of their overall court strategy, plan to highlight Holmes' mental state at the time of the killing.
Prosecutors have charged Holmes with murdering Mutather Jasem Muhammed Hassin on Dec. 31 in Fallujah. Holmes cut and stabbed Hassin 40 times with his combat knife, with some of the wounds piercing the victim's spine.
Defense attorneys said Holmes' physicians had prescribed him drugs such as Ambien, a sleep medication; Trazodone, an antidepressant; and Valium, which is often used to treat anxiety disorders.
However, missing medical documents cloud the issue of exactly what medications the doctors approved for Holmes and when they did so. Holmes has said he was taking prescription drugs but doesn't recall all of them.
The lack of details angered Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, the military judge overseeing the case.
“We are in the U.S. Marine Corps and our medical record is supposed to follow us around,” Meeks said during a motions hearing Tuesday at Camp Pendleton. “Are you saying that (Holmes') medical record is lost?” A prosecutor said the records were not available, but that another effort would be made to find them.
For months, Holmes' attorneys have maintained that he had to kill Hassin before Hassin killed him.
Stephen Cook, a civilian lawyer from Orange County, said his client was primarily motivated by self-defense but that “the totality of circumstances, including medication and stress of war and post-traumatic stress disorder, played a part.”
Defense attorneys have said Holmes fought with Hassin after the Iraqi soldier illuminated their outpost with the glow of his cellular phone, then with a cigarette, in the early morning hours of last New Year's Eve.
Cook said Holmes feared the glow would allow insurgents to target them. He also said Holmes was uneasy because three days earlier, in a different part of Fallujah, three Marines from his battalion had been killed in a sniper attack.
Holmes gestured to Hassin to stop exposing the outpost, Cook said, and the fight erupted when Hassin laughed.
Then Holmes pulled his knife when he thought Hassin was going for his rifle, Cook said. Holmes radioed for help after stabbing the soldier to death.
Holmes was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a reserve unit based in Lansing, Mich.
November 1, 2007 He's charged with killing Iraqi soldier
By Rick Rogers, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON– In the months before Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes fatally stabbed an Iraqi soldier in their sentry outpost, military doctors were treating him with drugs for anxiety and insomnia, his attorneys said this week.
The revelations come about a month before the start of Holmes' court-martial at Camp Pendleton. They provide further evidence that defense lawyers, as part of their overall court strategy, plan to highlight Holmes' mental state at the time of the killing.
Prosecutors have charged Holmes with murdering Mutather Jasem Muhammed Hassin on Dec. 31 in Fallujah. Holmes cut and stabbed Hassin 40 times with his combat knife, with some of the wounds piercing the victim's spine.
Defense attorneys said Holmes' physicians had prescribed him drugs such as Ambien, a sleep medication; Trazodone, an antidepressant; and Valium, which is often used to treat anxiety disorders.
However, missing medical documents cloud the issue of exactly what medications the doctors approved for Holmes and when they did so. Holmes has said he was taking prescription drugs but doesn't recall all of them.
The lack of details angered Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, the military judge overseeing the case.
“We are in the U.S. Marine Corps and our medical record is supposed to follow us around,” Meeks said during a motions hearing Tuesday at Camp Pendleton. “Are you saying that (Holmes') medical record is lost?” A prosecutor said the records were not available, but that another effort would be made to find them.
For months, Holmes' attorneys have maintained that he had to kill Hassin before Hassin killed him.
Stephen Cook, a civilian lawyer from Orange County, said his client was primarily motivated by self-defense but that “the totality of circumstances, including medication and stress of war and post-traumatic stress disorder, played a part.”
Defense attorneys have said Holmes fought with Hassin after the Iraqi soldier illuminated their outpost with the glow of his cellular phone, then with a cigarette, in the early morning hours of last New Year's Eve.
Cook said Holmes feared the glow would allow insurgents to target them. He also said Holmes was uneasy because three days earlier, in a different part of Fallujah, three Marines from his battalion had been killed in a sniper attack.
Holmes gestured to Hassin to stop exposing the outpost, Cook said, and the fight erupted when Hassin laughed.
Then Holmes pulled his knife when he thought Hassin was going for his rifle, Cook said. Holmes radioed for help after stabbing the soldier to death.
Holmes was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a reserve unit based in Lansing, Mich.