Marine's mistakes blamed for Iraqi civilians' deaths A US Marine made a series of fatal assumptions that led to the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005, in one of the most controversial episodes of the Iraq war, a prosecutor said Monday. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich overreacted in orders he gave his squad after seeing the mangled body of a comrade who had been killed in a roadside bombing in the Iraqi town of Haditha on November 19, 2005. "That image influenced the accused's thinking that day," said prosecutor Major Nicholas Gannon in an opening statement at the start of Wuterich's month-long court martial in California. Wuterich, who had no previous combat experience, sent his men to hunt for insurgents in several houses following the bombing that killed 20-year-old Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, and injured two other US troops. Gannon played excerpts from a 2007 CBS "60 Minutes" interview in which Wuterich told reporter Scott Pelley that he ordered his men to "shoot first and ask questions later" when they entered the first house November 19, 2005. Wuterich said he had heard gunshots coming from the area of the houses. "I didn't want my Marines to check for weapons first; I told them what to do and they did a good job," Wuterich said, adding he didn't feel it necessary to order a ceasefire because there may have been women and children in the house. "I had to make sure than none of the rest of my guys died or got killed," Wuterich told Pelley. Six people were killed in that house, most of them shot in the head, including women and children huddled in a bedroom. In all 19 people were killed in several houses along with five men who pulled up near the scene in a car, sparking one of the most controversial criminal cases involving US forces during the nearly nine-year-long Iraq war. Defense lawyer Haytham Faraj said Haditha was "abuzz with insurgents" at the time and said the incident took on a life of its own following an inaccurate report from a Marine public affairs officer and a Time magazine investigation. "We're going to ask you if you believe the Marine Corps engages in conspiracies and coverups," said Faraj, adding: "There was no intent to do anything wrong, his intent was to do the mission he was assigned to do." When you watch the entire '60 Minutes' interview, Wuterich will say 'I'm responsible for my unit's actions. I regret the loss of life; my squad acted consistent with what was required of them,'" said Faraj. Faraj urged the eight-member jury to "give (Wuterich) his life back and put Haditha behind us." The Marine jury of four officers and four enlisted men, ranging in rank from gunnery sergeant to lieutenant colonel, will decide Wuterich's fate at Camp Pendleton. All of the jurors have done tours of duty in Iraq. Wuterich, 31, has pleaded not guilty to nine counts of voluntary manslaughter, along with charges of dereliction of duty and assault, for his role in the deaths of the Iraqis.