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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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April 1st,
2009 - Marine’s Trial Begins in '04 Slaying in Iraq News article from the San Diego
Union-Tribune News article from Agence France
Presse |
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Marine’s Trial Begins in '04
Slaying in Iraq By Rick Rogers San Diego Union-Tribune April 1, 2009 Camp Pendleton - The latest
chapter in Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer's unusual case started yesterday in a Camp
Pendleton courtroom. Weemer is charged with
shooting to death an unarmed detainee while his unit battled through the
insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, Iraq, in late 2004. Two other members of
his squad also have been accused of killing captives in the same incident. During his opening
statement, civilian defense attorney Paul Hackett told an all-male jury of
Marine Corps officers that prosecutors can't prove Weemer murdered anyone. He
said the shooting that took place stemmed from his client's self-defense
after a senior Marine gave orders to do away with the detainees. “This is not a case of
revenge,” Hackett said. “This is a tragic story that represents the reality
of combat, the reality of war.” Marine Capt. Nicholas
Gannon, the lead prosecutor, described the court-martial as focusing on the
need to follow rules. “This is a case about doing
the right thing at the most critical time,” he said. If convicted on charges of
unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty, Weemer could face life
imprisonment. His trial is expected to last two weeks. Prosecutors have said the
man Weemer killed was one of four captives held in a house Nov. 9, 2004. Weemer probably wouldn't be
on trial if not for the statements he gave to two federal agencies.
Yesterday, prosecutors played snippets from the audiotaped recording of an
October 2006 job interview that Weemer had with the U.S. Secret Service, plus
the recording of a session a month later between Weemer and the Naval
Criminal Investigative Service. During the Secret Service
meeting, Weemer was asked to name the worst crime he had ever committed. Weemer answered that he and
other members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment were fighting in
Fallujah when they discovered four or five men in a barricaded house
containing weapons. He said that because his
squad didn't have time to take the captives to jail, it asked officials at
headquarters for guidance. “We called the platoon
leader and the response was, 'Are they dead yet?' ” Weemer is heard saying on
the tape. Weemer said he and two other
Marines interpreted the question as an order to kill the detainees, so they
did. Specifically, prosecutors allege that Weemer pulled out his 9 mm pistol
and shot a captive twice in the chest. Hackett said Sgt. Jose
Nazario Jr., the ranking serviceman in the house, lost control of the
situation and ordered Weemer and other Marines to shoot the captives. Weemer
was taking a detainee into the kitchen when the man lunged at him, causing
him to fire, Hackett added. Weemer had left the Marine
Corps when he interviewed with the Secret Service, but he was still on
reserve status. The Corps eventually brought him back to active duty so it
could charge him under the military justice system. Sgt. Jermaine Nelson also is
accused of shooting one of the captives and is awaiting court-martial. It's unclear whether Weemer
and Nelson will testify at each other's trials. They had refused to take the
stand against Nazario despite being held in contempt of court. A civilian jury acquitted
Nazario in August. He was tried in U.S. District Court in Riverside because
he had left the Marine Corps and couldn't be recalled anymore. External link: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/apr/01/1m1weemer011031-marines-trial-begins-04-slaying-ir/ US marine
charged for killing unarmed Iraqi From Agence France Presse April 1, 2009 Camp Pendleton, California -
A US Marine sergeant claimed he killed an Iraqi detainee in self-defense, but
a prosecutor has charged that he ignored basic procedures and killed an
unarmed man. In opening statements at the
Marine's court martial Tuesday, Ryan Weemer, 26 - one of three Marines accused
in the killings of four Iraqi detainees during the battle for Fallujah in
November 2004 - was charged with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of
duty. "This case is about
doing the right thing. This case is about following the rules at a time when
it's most difficult," said prosecutor Captain Nicholas Gannon at the
hearing at this camp southwest of Los Angeles. After Weemer's best friend
was gunned down, he and other Marines found four men in a house - three young
men and an older man with a beard. The men were unarmed and had their hands
up in the air, Gannon said. "Ultimately, Sergeant
Weemer took the man with the beard, took that detainee, pulled out his 9 mm
(gun) and shot him two times," said Gannon. The accused claimed the dead
man went for his (Weemer's) gun and he shot him in the chest, said the
prosecutor. "If you're gonna
execute someone, would you shoot him in the chest?" countered defense attorney
Paul Hackett. "This is a tragic story
that represents the reality of war," said Hackett. "Marines are put
in tough positions and they have to make snap decisions." "Not one piece of
testimony that you hear will say he's (Weemer) prohibited from using deadly
force in self-defense," said Hackett. If convicted, Weemer, could
be sentenced to life in prison. A military investigation was
triggered when Weemer told a Secret Service agent during a job interview in
October 2006 that he had been involved in an unlawful killing in Iraq. Former Marine Sergeant Jose
Nazario was tried on voluntary manslaughter charges and acquitted last year
in federal civilian court. It was unclear whether he will testify at Weemer's
court martial. Sergeant Jermaine Nelson's
court-martial was postponed last month. Copyright © 2009 AFP. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLnBsu9mO8bEXDi51_6icDQcdw4g Marine says he shouldn’t
face murder charge Trial continues for Camp Pendleton troop accused of killing unarmed
detainee By Mark Walker North County Times April 1, 2009 Camp Pendleton - A Marine on
trial for killing a suspected insurgent in Iraq told an investigator he
shouldn't be prosecuted for an act occurring "in the fog" of
battle. "This was war,"
Sgt. Ryan Weemer said in a dramatic, taped interview with the investigator
that was played in court Wednesday morning. "This is where someone has
shot your best friend. It's not pretty, and I don't deserve to be in trouble
because I did what I had to do over there." Weemer also said in the 2006
interview aired on the second day of his trial that he had been ordered to
kill the man. In a calm voice, he said everything that happened inside a home
in the Iraqi city of Fallujah took place in a flash. "This happened in a
split second in the fog of war," Weemer told Special Agent Mark Fox of
the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. "If anyone else had been
there, the same thing would have happened. I don't feel I did anything
wrong." Weemer, 26, has pleaded not
guilty to charges of unpremeditated murder and failing to follow the
military's rules for handling prisoners. Prosecutors allege he shot one of
four suspected insurgents captured inside a home in the opening hours of a
bloody battle for the city of Fallujah on Nov. 9, 2004. Another accused, former
Marine Sgt. Jose L. Nazario Jr., was acquitted last year for his role in the
incident. A third suspect, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, is slated to go on trial at
Camp Pendleton later this spring or summer. Weemer, a corporal when the
incident took place, says that he and then-squad leader Nazario had been
directed by radio to "take care of it" after reporting they had
captured the men. After that, Weemer says they were asked, "Are they
dead yet?" "I don't feel like I
had an option to disobey an order - I'm not like that," Weemer told Fox. The native of Oakland, Ill.,
talks at length about how minutes before the shooting his best friend and
longtime roommate, Lance Cpl. Juan Segura, was mortally wounded when shot in
the back by an insurgent sniper. Weemer said he was covered
in Segura's blood and would be for the next four days as his squad from Camp
Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment fought its way through
Fallujah in the largest urban battle involving U.S. troops since the Vietnam
War. After leaving the Marine
Corps, Weemer said he tried for two years to forget about everything that
happened in Fallujah. "This came up because I
was trying to get a job," he said, referring to when he first disclosed
the shooting during an employment interview with the Secret Service. Weemer sat stoically
throughout the playing of the tape as his wife, sister and a former English
teacher sat behind him. In opening statements
Tuesday, lead defense attorney Paul Hackett told the eight officers on the
jury that Weemer was following orders and also is asserting self-defense by
claiming the suspected insurgent lunged for his gun. That claim is bolstered by a
Marine who told authorities that Weemer said minutes after the incident that
he shot the man when the man tried to wrest away Weemer's pistol. Prosecutors are trying to
convince the combat-experienced jurors that Weemer should be convicted
because, in portions of other statements, he flatly says he killed an unarmed
man and makes no mention of self-defense. They also intimate the killing was
a vengeful act carried out after Segura was shot. No bodies were ever
recovered; no names have been attached to the men who were killed and no
complaining survivors have emerged. Fox testified Wednesday that
in two searches of the home, no remains, bullets, shell casings or signs of
spilled blood were found, despite chemical tests. Nazario and Nelson have been
subpoenaed by prosecutors, but each may refuse to say anything. Nelson and Weemer defied
subpoenas to testify at Nazario's trial in August. A few months earlier, they
were briefly jailed when they would not answer questions before a grand jury
investigating Nazario's role. Nazario was tried as a
civilian in federal court in Riverside because he was no longer subject to
recall into the service as was Weemer. Jurors who heard his case later said
they did not believe it was proper for civilians to second-guess actions
occurring on a foreign battlefield. In order to convict Weemer,
two-thirds of the jury must agree. If he is found guilty on any charge, the
jury decides any punishment, which is then subject to review by Camp
Pendleton's Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the convening authority overseeing the
case. External link: http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2009/04/01/military/z9098932e28e96d7b8825758b004f94ba.txt |