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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 24th,
2009 - Marine Corps to Prosecute Third Fallujah Suspect |
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Marine Corps to Prosecute Third
Fallujah Suspect Despite acquittals of two co-defendants, service to try Sgt. Jermaine
Nelson for murder By Mark Walker North County Times April 24, 2009 Camp Pendleton - Despite
having failed to win convictions of two co-defendants, the Marine Corps
announced Friday it will prosecute Sgt. Jermaine Nelson for killing an
unarmed Iraqi prisoner of war. Lt. Col. David Griesmer said
a plea from Nelson's attorney to drop the murder charge has been rejected. The attorney, Joseph Low,
said Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland believes the case should be decided by a jury. "Sometimes, a single
person does not want to be the decision-maker," Low said of Helland, who
has the authority to order the charges against Nelson withdrawn. "The
general decided he would rather see it tried before a panel of members." Nelson, 26, was told of the
decision Thursday and will have his case tried before a jury of fellow
service members, Low said. "He trusts the Marine
Corps," Low said of his client's belief he will be acquitted. Nelson has pleaded not
guilty to one count of unpremeditated murder and four counts of dereliction
of duty for allegedly failing to follow the regulations governing the
handling of prisoners. Prosecutors allege Nelson
and two other Marines killed four unarmed prisoners they had captured inside
a home in the city of Fallujah in the opening hours of a massive battle for
what was an insurgent-held city on Nov. 9, 2004. The two other Marines,
former Sgt. Jose L. Nazario Jr. and Sgt. Ryan Weemer, have been tried and
acquitted of homicide charges. Nazario, who had left the
Marine Corps when the allegations arose, was tried before a civilian jury in
U.S. District Court in Riverside last year on two counts of involuntary
manslaughter. Jurors deliberated just a few hours before finding him not
guilty. They later said they did not believe they were equipped to second-guess
actions occurring on a foreign battlefield. Weemer was tried by
court-martial before a military jury of eight Marine Corps officers at Camp
Pendleton. The panel that heard his six-day trial deliberated about five
hours before delivering its not-guilty finding on April 9. Authorities have alleged the
three Marines from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment had
full control of the suspected insurgents when Nazario shot two and Weemer and
Nelson each shot one. Neither Nazario nor Weemer
testified at their respective trials. Nazario's attorney stressed
a lack of physical evidence and witnesses in his argument to the jury in that
case. Weemer's attorney said the suspected insurgent he was guarding lunged
for his weapon, prompting him to shoot the man twice in the chest. Nazario and Nelson each
defied subpoenas compelling their testimony at the other man's trial. Nelson
also refused to testify at Weemer and Nazario's trials. Former Marine Corps attorney
and military judge Gary Solis said that despite being armed with an admission
from Nelson, the underlying difficulties that faced prosecutors in the
Nazario and Weemer trials remain. "It's such a tough case
because beyond the statements of the accused, there is no forensic evidence,
no photographs and no bodies," said Solis, who teaches military law at
Georgetown University. The decision to go ahead and
try Nelson despite the two previous acquittals may stem from an institutional
mindset, Solis said. "It's a really hard
call, but it's tough to walk away from it because that opens up the Marine
Corps to allegations it is ignoring a suspected war crime," he said. Nelson was on his second
combat tour in Iraq when the Fallujah killings occurred. Low asserts Nelson
was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when the incident took
place. The killings came to light
in 2006 when Weemer disclosed them during a job interview with the Secret
Service after he left the Marine Corps, telling an investigator about the
capture of suspected insurgents and revealing that they were ultimately shot.
He was recalled to active duty to face prosecution. Nazario, who was not subject
to recall into the Marine Corps, was the first former U.S. troop tried under
a law allowing civilian court prosecutions of former service members accused
of crimes on a battlefield. Nelson remains on active
duty at Camp Pendleton while his case is being resolved. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/04/24/military/z1a0a8e94534ffed0882575a2005e0cd3.txt |