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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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October 1st,
2008 - Marines Accused in Iraqi Slayings Refuse to Testify Against Each Other News article by the Los Angeles
Times |
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Marines Accused in Iraqi Slayings
Refuse to Testify Against Each Other Lawyers say two sergeants will not provide court-martial testimony.
The pair also refused to testify at the August federal trial of their former
squad leader, who was subsequently acquitted of killing four Iraqi prisoners. By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times October 1, 2008 Camp Pendleton - In August,
a former Marine sergeant charged in the killing of four Iraqi prisoners was
acquitted in federal court - in large part because two Marine sergeants
refused to provide key testimony against him. Now the two sergeants, who
are charged in the same case in military court, are refusing to testify
against each other at their own courts-martial. Jose Nazario was acquitted
Aug. 28 in federal court in Riverside. During his trial, Marine Sgts. Ryan
Weemer and Jermaine Nelson said they would not testify against their former
squad leader out of concern that their words could be used against them in
their courts-martial. They refused to budge even when the federal judge
promised that would not be the case. The civilian jury acquitted
Nazario, with jurors pointing to a lack of direct evidence. Now Nelson is refusing to
testify against Weemer, and Weemer's attorney said today that his client
would refuse to testify against Nelson. The two are being tried separately
here on charges of murder and dereliction of duty, which could lead to life
sentences. Nelson refused to testify
Tuesday despite an assurance from the military judge that a grant of immunity
would prevent his testimony from being used against him. "Nelson is totally,
absolutely critical to the Weemer case," said Capt. Nick Gannon, one of
the prosecutors. The federal prosecutor in
Nazario's case made a similar complaint in late August when Weemer and Nelson
refused to testify against Nazario - refusing to repeat statements they made
to investigators early in the case, in which they said Nazario had ordered
them to kill the prisoners. Today, at the request of
Marine prosecutors, the military judge, Lt. Col. Thomas Sanzi, delayed
Weemer's court-martial until Jan. 12 in hopes that Nelson's court-martial
would be finished by then and that he would testify against Weemer. But Paul Hackett, one of
Weemer's attorneys, told Sanzi that it is unlikely that Weemer or Nelson
would ever testify because they fear such testimony could lead federal
prosecutors to charge them in federal court once they leave the Marine Corps. "We certainly know now
that the federal government would like to do that because they did that to
Sgt. Nazario," Hackett said. He said any attorney who would allow a
client to testify in such a situation "would be out of their
minds." The prosecution of Nazario
was the first use of the little-known federal law the Military Extraterritorial
Jurisdiction Act, which allows civilian prosecutors to try former military
personnel for alleged crimes committed in combat. Nazario was no longer in the
Marines when details of the case began to emerge. The case stems from the
November 2004 battle in Fallouja, when Nazario took four Iraqi men prisoner.
Prosecutors alleged that he killed two of them and ordered Nelson and Weemer
to kill one prisoner each. Weemer's attorneys have asked the judge to disallow
the confessional statements his client made during a Secret Service job
interview. External link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marine2-2008oct02,0,1455513.story Marine refuses to testify in
hearing Iraqi captives reportedly killed By Rick Rogers San Diego Union-Tribune October 1, 2008 Camp Pendleton A Marine
sergeant defied a general's order yesterday by refusing to testify against a
fellow defendant in the case of a Camp Pendleton squad accused of killing
unarmed captives in Fallujah, Iraq, almost four years ago. Sgt. Jermaine Nelson took
the stand in a pretrial hearing for Sgt. Ryan Weemer with the knowledge that
Marine Gen. Samuel Helland had granted him immunity and ordered him to
testify. But Nelson wouldn't talk
about what transpired during a Nov. 9, 2004, battle in Fallujah. He, Weemer
and other Marines allegedly found several men during a house-to-house search,
held them captive and then shot them to death after interpreting their
superiors' comments over the radio as an order to kill. At this time, sir, I am going
to continue to use my Fifth Amendment right, Nelson said in reply to
questions from the prosecutor. It's unclear whether the
Marine Corps will charge Nelson for violating an order to testify. Also during yesterday's
hearing, defense attorney Paul Hackett urged a military judge to dismiss
incriminating statements that Weemer made to federal agents. Weemer, 25, is charged with
one count of murder and six counts of dereliction of duty. Nelson faces
similar charges. Hackett argued that Weemer's
statements to the U.S. Secret Service should be suppressed because there is
no collaborating evidence. The government launched its
investigation into the Fallujah case after Weemer gave what seemed to be a
confession during a job interview with the Secret Service. Weemer was asked about the
worst crime he had ever committed. He described the killing of unarmed
detainees by himself, Nelson and former Sgt. Jose Nazario Jr. A jury recently acquitted
Nazario, who was tried in federal court because he had left the Marine Corps
and was no longer subject to the military's criminal-justice system. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20081001-9999-1m1weemer.html |