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March 4, 1999
Web posted at: 8:52 p.m. EST (0152 GMT)

In this story: Defense attorney rips military Navigator hopes to have case dismissed Reckless? RELATED STORIES, SITES

CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (CNN) -- The Pentagon expressed sympathy Thursday for everyone touched by the "tragedy of unbounded dimensions" after a military jury acquitted a Marine pilot whose jet last year clipped an Italian ski lift cable, killing 20 people.

"It's a tragedy for everyone, particularly the families, the ski area, the cable car operators and the Marines as well," said Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon. He also stressed that the Marines had "set out to determine culpability in a fair, open and thorough way."

But the verdict outraged Italian political leaders, who called for the closing of U.S. military bases in their country. The trial outcome will likely be discussed by Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema and U.S. President Bill Clinton when they meet Friday.

The Pentagon announced after the verdict that it has taken steps to prevent a repeat of the incident in which Capt. Richard Ashby was flying lower than regulations allowed when his jet clipped the gondola cable.

"There is now a clear minimum flight ceiling of 2,000 feet," said Bacon. "Because of that restriction, the planes cannot do low-level operations in the (Italian) Alps.

"After every flight there is a third-party review of the flight tapes to make sure that there was a full compliance with all flight rules and regulations," Bacon added.

Ashby, of Mission Viejo, California, still faces an obstruction-of-justice charge stemming from the disappearance of a videotape his navigator shot during the fatal flight.

"This has been a tragedy for all involved," Ashby said after a jury of eight Marine officers found him not guilty on every count in this trial.

"My heart and my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this tragedy," he told reporters about an hour after the verdict was announced.

Ashby, 31, declined to say anything else, but his attorney repeated what the defense has maintained throughout the case. "This was a terrible, tragic training accident," Frank Spinner said.

When the verdicts were announced, cheers erupted from Ashby's family in the courtroom at the Camp Lejeune Marine base, while relatives of the European victims sat in stunned silence, some sobbing.

"I'm sorry," military prosecutor Maj. Stu Couch whispered to several relatives of the victims who had been flown to the United States this week to see the verdict.

"I really trusted the American justice system. You don't know how disappointed I am." - Emmi Aurich, wife of victim
"I really cannot understand how he's not guilty, because he killed 20 people." - Sindy Renkewitz, sister of victim
"I am really baffled by this ruling." - Massimo D'Alema, Italian premier

Defense attorney rips military

Jurors returned their verdict at midday Thursday after deliberating 7 1/2 hours, beginning when closing arguments ended Wednesday. Testimony in the court-martial began February 8 and ended Tuesday.

Ashby had faced a possible 206 years in prison if convicted of all 20 counts of involuntary manslaughter plus one count each of destroying government property, destroying private property, dereliction of duty and failure to plan the flight properly.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Ashby had recklessly disregarded altitude and speed restrictions on the final leg of a 42-minute, low-level training mission in the Italian Alps.

The defense said the military's map didn't show the ski lift, and that jet equipment wasn't working properly.

Acquittal on all charges, Spinner said, should make the U.S. military reflect on "what went wrong" in its process for bringing criminal charges.

"How is it that the Marine Corps could claim that Captain Ashby committed an act of involuntary manslaughter?" the lawyer asked. "And how is it that a jury could acquit him of those same charges and even lesser charges?"

A spokesman for the Marine prosecutors released a statement: "From the very beginning, the Marine Corps has emphasized that our purpose was to determine the truth, to ensure the integrity of the judicial process and to hold individuals accountable if they were found to be criminally liable. This court-martial proceeding allowed us to do just that."

Navigator hopes to have case dismissed

Defense lawyers claimed Ashby and his navigator, Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, 31, of Westbury, New York, were charged because of political pressure that went as high as the White House.

Schweitzer faces a trial on similar charges later. His defense attorneys planned to seek a dismissal, based on statements made by prosecutors in Ashby's trial.

"During closing arguments, Maj. (Daniel) Daugherty, one of the government's prosecutors, stated on the record that, quote, 'Captain Schweitzer did not cause this accident,'" a defense attorney, Navy Lt. Kathryn Clune, said.

Charges already have been dropped against the two crewmen in the rear cockpit of the Prowler.

Reckless?

During Ashby's trial, prosecutors accused him of violating the mission's 517 mph (832 km/h) speed limit and 2,000-foot (610-meter) altitude restriction. His jet, traveling at 621 mph (999 km/h), cut the cable about 370 feet (113 meters) above the valley floor, prosecutors said.

Ashby said he thought the altitude restriction was 1,000 feet (305 meters).

He testified he was unaware of a mission speed limit. His attorneys also contended that the jet's altitude gauge malfunctioned, and an optical illusion made Ashby think he was flying higher than he really was.

Both sides agreed the Mount Cermis ski lift wasn't marked on Ashby's government-issue map. The Pentagon refused to address that issue Thursday because separate litigation was underway involving the U.S. agency that made the map.

Ashby testified last week that he didn't see the cable until the last second.

Correspondent Tony Clark, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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