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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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March 31st,
2009 - Trial Begins for Marine in Iraq Killings Case News article from the
Associated Press |
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Trial Begins
for Marine in Iraq Killings Case By Thomas Watkins Associated Press March 31, 2009 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
court-martial began Tuesday for a Marine accused of killing an unarmed
captive in Iraq in a case officials knew nothing about until the defendant
sought a Secret Service job and was asked about the most serious crime he had
ever committed. An attorney for Sgt. Ryan
Weemer told the jury that prosecutors cannot prove their case because they
have no body, no forensic evidence and no relatives complaining of a lost
loved one. Prosecutors, however, played recorded interviews in which Weemer
said he and other Marines shot a total of four men in Fallujah in November
2004 after their squad suffered its first fatality. Weemer, 26, of Hindsboro,
Ill., is accused of the unpremeditated murder of one man and dereliction of
duty. His former squad leader was acquitted of related charges in federal
court and another squad member has yet to face court-martial. The case came to light long
after the battle. In 2006, after he left the
Marine Corps, Weemer applied for a job in the Secret Service. During a
background interview before a polygraph test as part of the application, he
was asked about the most serious crime he ever committed. "We went into this
house, there happened to be four or five guys in the house," Weemer said
in a recording of the interview played during the prosecution's opening
statement. "We ended up shooting them, we had to." The U.S. military had
ordered all civilians out of Fallujah ahead of an assault aimed at
recapturing the city from insurgents. "Operation Phantom Fury"
involved vicious house-to-house fighting. Weemer's account triggered a
criminal investigation and led to Weemer being recalled to active duty to
face military prosecution. "This is a case about
following the rules, this is a case about doing the right thing at the most
critical time," the prosecutor, Capt. Nicholas Gannon, told the jury of
eight officers. Weemer's civilian attorney,
Paul Hackett, countered that it was "a tragic story that represents the
reality of combat." "This is not a perfect
science.... Marines are put in tough positions and they have to make snap
decisions," Hackett said. The shaven-headed Weemer sat
straight in his chair, occasionally speaking to his military attorney. His squad, led by Sgt. Jose
Nazario, had been ordered to clear a house immediately after losing its first
man, Lance Cpl. Juan Segura, who was shot by a sniper. Inside the home, the Marines
found three young men and one older man, who were unarmed and had their hands
in the air, prosecutors said. Hackett said a sweep of the property turned up
at least two AK-47s with hot barrels as well as spent ammunition cartridges. Weemer said in the interview
that the unarmed Iraqis were slain after the squad asked superiors for
instructions. "We called up to the
platoon leader and the response was, 'Are they dead yet?'" Weemer said
in the recording. Hackett said the government
must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a killing even occurred. If
prosecutors can show this, Hackett said, his client had been ordered to fire
his weapon by an overwhelmed squad leader who had lost control of the
situation, and even if he did shoot, it was in self-defense because the
captive reached for Weemer's weapon. Hackett said military
investigators returned to the house and carried out extensive forensic
analysis but found no bullet fragments or blood spatters. The defense attorney also
said Weemer never took the actual polygraph test during the Secret Service
interview. The squad was from Kilo
Company of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, the same company that a
year later was involved in the widely publicized killings of 24 men, women
and children in Haditha. None of the Marines from the Fallujah case were
involved in the Haditha case. In his Secret Service
interview, Weemer said news of the Haditha investigation had gotten him
thinking about things he did during the war. The prosecution also played
a recording of a subsequent interview of Weemer by Navy investigators. Weemer described an argument
that broke out among squad members over what to do with the detainees. He
said that after Nazario shot two men, the squad leader asked his colleagues
to help him dispose of the other two. "I just remember that
we didn't want to do that," Weemer said. "Finally, I grabbed a guy
and took him ... and I shot him ... with my pistol." Nazario was beyond the reach
of a Marine recall after the investigation because he had completed his
military obligations. He was tried in U.S. District Court and found not
guilty of voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon and
discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Another sergeant, Jermaine
Nelson, has pleaded not guilty to unpremeditated murder and dereliction of
duty, but his court-martial has been indefinitely postponed because of a
flurry of last-minute motions filed by his attorney. (This version corrects that
Secret Service interview came ahead of actual polygraph test.) Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gJBGkERPk8ZiV1rYMiNrLa2yvSpgD979B2600 Self-defense
asserted in Fallujah killing Prosecutor argues facts point to murder and failure to follow rules of
engagement By Mark Walker North County Times March 31, 2009 Camp Pendleton - A Marine
charged with slaying an unarmed prisoner during the opening hours of a brutal
fight in 2004 for the Iraqi city of Fallujah killed the man in self-defense,
his attorney said Tuesday. The attorney, Paul Hackett,
said then-Cpl. Ryan Weemer was attempting to gain control of a situation that
his sergeant had let deteriorate and killed the suspected insurgent when the
man tried to grab his client's gun. "This is a tragic story
that represents the reality of war," Hackett said during his opening
statement to the eight combat-experienced Marine officers who make up the
jury. But prosecutor Capt. Nick
Gannon said Weemer was one of three men from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion,
1st Marine Regiment squad who executed four prisoners who posed no threat. "This is a case about
following the rules and doing the right thing at the most important
time," Gannon said during his opening statement. Weemer, 26, is charged with
unpremeditated murder and four counts of dereliction of duty for allegedly
failing to adhere to the military's rules for handling prisoners. He has
pleaded not guilty. Hackett used much of his
opening statement to place the blame on former Marine Sgt. Jose L. Nazario
Jr., who headed the squad that included Weemer, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson and
several other Marines. "Nazario lost control
of the situation and conveyed an unlawful order in ordering Marines to shoot
insurgents," Hackett told a hushed courtroom as Weemer sat
ramrod-straight, listening to his attorney's presentation. The case emerged when
Weemer, who had left the Marine Corps, told a Secret Service agent during an
October 2006 job interview that he had shot a detainee. In a taped recording of that
interview, Weemer tells the agent that he and Nazario debated what to do
after reporting they had captured the suspected insurgents inside a home. The
debate stemmed from what Weemer and others have said was a directive by an
unnamed superior in a radio call to "take care of it" and who a
short time later asked, "Are they dead yet?" That led to Nazario's
decision to shoot two prisoners and to order his men to kill two others in
violation of the rules of engagement, authorities allege. "It's not something you
want to do, it just happened," Weemer told the Secret Service agent. The agent reported what
Weemer said to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which interviewed
Weemer on Nov. 9, 2006, precisely two years after the incident. During the November
interview, Weemer said he was frustrated that morning in Fallujah because his
best friend had been shot and killed a few hours before the squad captured
the insurgents. "I remember being in a
frantic state," he told the Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent,
adding he disagreed with Nazario's order to shoot the prisoners. "I didn't want to do
that," he told the agent. Hackett said Weemer's
decision to take a prisoner into a separate room was an effort to regain
control of the situation. Weemer told investigators
the story of what happened inside the house "because he is an honest guy
and he does feel guilty," Hackett said. But Hackett stressed the man
Weemer shot had "lunged" for his gun, resulting in the man being shot
in the chest. Other Marines will testify
the three other insurgents were shot in the head, something more consistent
with the prosecution's theory that those men were executed, Hackett said. Nazario, who is expected to
appear as a government witness Thursday, was tried as a civilian last year
with killing two of the insurgents. The jury that heard his case in federal
court in Riverside acquitted him, saying it did not believe it was equipped
to second-guess battlefield decisions. The company commander at
Fallujah, Maj. Tim Jent, one of two government witnesses to testify Tuesday,
said he considered Weemer to be an outstanding Marine. "He carried his load
and much more," Jent said. "Marines were able to depend upon him,
and through his leadership he was able to save fellow Marines." Unlike Weemer, Nazario was
not subject to recall into the service to face charges in military court. The
third accused man in the case, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, faces trial later this
year on the same charges as Weemer. A few days after the Nov. 9,
2004, incident, Weemer was shot three times in the legs as his squad
continued to fight to rid Fallujah of insurgents in what was the largest
urban combat for U.S. troops since the Vietnam War. Weemer, who was awarded a
Purple Heart, was later promoted to sergeant. The prosecution is relying
on Weemer's statements and those from other troops there that day.
Investigators found no bodies and have not been able to name any of the men
Weemer says were shot. Investigators also failed to
find any forensic evidence, including shell casings, spent bullets or blood,
during two examinations of the home. To convict Weemer, who
joined the Marine Corps in 2001 shortly after graduating from high school in
Oakand, Ill., two-thirds of the jury must agree. The trial continues at 8
a.m. Wednesday morning and is expected to last for several more days. External link: http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2009/03/31/military/z35ad54d7558e3fbc88257589007be08a.txt |