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Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher Goes on Trial for War Crimes

Chief Edward Gallagher leaving court with his wife, Andrea Gallagher, after a hearing in San Diego, Calif., in May.Credit...Julie Watson/Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — Wearing a starched white uniform and a chestful of ribbons from years of military service, Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher walked into a military courtroom in San Diego on Monday to stand trial on war crimes charges.

But what prosecutors initially believed would be a straightforward case has looked increasingly troubled in recent months, with delays caused by prosecutorial missteps and with signs that at least one important prosecution witness had changed his story.

Chief Gallagher, a Navy SEAL platoon leader, is charged with shooting unarmed civilians in Iraq in 2017, including a school-age girl, and with killing a captured teenage ISIS fighter with a knife, among other crimes. The chief was turned in by members of his platoon, who told investigators he had become obsessed with killing and had bragged about shooting scores of people in Iraq.

Chief Gallagher has pleaded not guilty and denied all the charges. His lawyers and supporters say he is being unfairly prosecuted simply for doing his job well, and that his accusers were disgruntled subordinates who could not meet his high standards.

On a Facebook page that is regularly updated by Chief Gallagher’s family, a message posted on Sunday read in part, “Over the course of the trial we will expose the false narrative spread by these accusers for what it is … a smear campaign full of lies.”

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During the trial, which is expected to last two weeks, the Navy plans to present firsthand testimony from several witnesses; photos of the chief posing with a dead body; and a text message in which he admits killing the captive, among other evidence.

But officers from his unit, SEAL team 7, waited so long to report the alleged war crimes — nearly a year after they took place — that by the time an investigation was begun, much of the physical evidence was gone.

“There is no crime scene, they don’t have any bodies, and they can’t determine a cause of death,” said Patrick Korody, a former Navy prosecutor who has been tracking the case. “This case is going to come down to witnesses, and witness cases in this day and age are some of the weakest.”

Complicating matters further, the lead prosecutor was removed from the case two weeks ago after complaints from the defense about attempts to improperly track their communications, leaving the new lead prosecutor little time to prepare for trial.

And President Trump has indicated that he is “looking” at pardoning “two or three” service members accused or convicted of war crimes. Mr. Trump did not give their names, but Navy officials suggested that one of them may be Chief Gallagher.

“It’s a little bit controversial,” Mr. Trump told reporters on May 24. “It’s very possible that I’ll let the trials go on, and I’ll make my decision after the trial.” He added: “Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard and long. You know, we teach them how to be great fighters, and then when they fight, sometimes they get really treated very unfairly.”

Chief Gallagher, 40, was on his fifth deployment with the SEALs in 2017, leading a platoon that was supporting Iraqi troops as they sought to drive Islamic State fighters out of the city of Mosul.

According to a Navy investigative report, platoon members saw their chief at first as an experienced leader with a reputation as one of the top chiefs in the SEALs.

But once they were in Mosul, platoon members told investigators, the chief became frightening. They said he proposed dangerous missions that had no clear purpose, ordered SEALs to fire rockets and machine guns at neighborhoods with no clear targets, and spent much of his time in a hidden sniper perch, firing far more often than any of the platoon’s snipers.

Snipers told investigators they saw Chief Gallagher shoot a school-age girl in a flower-print hijab who was walking with other girls on a riverbank, and an unarmed man in a white robe with a wispy white beard. Both were hundreds of yards away and posed no threat, the snipers said.

SEALs also told investigators that Chief Gallagher stabbed to death a wounded ISIS fighter that the platoon was holding captive. A few days later, the investigative report said, the chief texted a photo of the dead body to a fellow SEAL, saying, “Good story behind this, got him with my hunting knife.”

However, at least one SEAL who initially told investigators he saw the stabbing has apparently recanted.

According to an interview summary, Petty Officer Second Class Ivan Villanueva, the most junior SEAL in the platoon, told investigators he had been right next to Chief Gallagher when the chief stabbed the wounded fighter without provocation, and had been “shocked and surprised when the incident occurred.”

But Petty Officer Villanueva will not testify to that in court, according to Chris Ramirez, a lawyer representing him. In a written statement, Mr. Ramirez said, “Our client does not have any evidence supporting the allegations against Chief Gallagher and will testify accordingly.”

Lawyers familiar with the case said that at least one other witness may change his story as well.

According to the Navy investigative report, members of the SEAL platoon approached the platoon commander, Lt. Jacob Portier, and others with their concerns about Chief Gallagher’s actions soon after they occurred in 2017, but Lieutenant Portier and his superior, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Briesch, did not act for nearly a year.

Lieutenant Portier has been charged and is facing court-martial for failing to report possible war crimes. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. Commander Briesch has been formally notified by the Navy that he is under investigation, but has not been charged; he told investigators that he was unaware of the platoon’s concerns about misconduct until shortly before he reported the chief to criminal authorities in 2018.

The Gallagher case was rocked in May by revelations that the Navy’s lead prosecutor, Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak, and agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service had tried to identify the source of leaks by sending emails embedded with hidden tracking software to defense attorneys and a journalist for Navy Times. The software would tell prosecutors who had opened or forwarded the email.

Defense attorneys immediately discovered the software and protested that its use violated Chief Gallagher’s right to a fair trial. The judge ruled that Commander Czaplak’s actions had created a conflict, and removed him from the case.

His replacement, Cmdr. Jeff Pietrzyk, is one of the most experienced prosecutors in the Navy and should be able to present the case effectively despite the short time to prepare, said Mr. Korody, the retired prosecutor. But in anyone’s hands, he said, the case would be hampered by the absence of DNA and other evidence that might have been collected if the alleged killings had been reported promptly.

“If there is anyone to blame,” Mr. Korody said, “it is the SEAL chain of command who failed to start an investigation in time.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 16 of the New York edition with the headline: As Witnesses Waver, Navy SEAL Confronts Charges of War Crimes. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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