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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 28th,
2009 - Aquitted Camp Pendleton Marine Waiting to “Take Back his Own Life” |
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Aquitted Camp Pendleton
Marine Waiting to “Take Back his Own Life” By Paul Young The Fallbrook Village News August 28, 2009 Riverside - One year ago
today, in a precedent-setting trial in Riverside, former U.S. Marine Sgt.
Jose Luis Nazario was acquitted of charges he unlawfully killed enemy
combatants in Iraq. Now, the ex-serviceman is waiting for a former comrade's
trial to wrap up before he begins the process of "taking his own life
back.'' An April court-martial at
Camp Pendleton of a second comrade in the case, Sgt. Ryan Weemer also ended
in acquittal. Court-martial for the third, Sgt. Jermaine Allen Nelson, is
expected to get under way next month. But even though his own case
ended a year ago, Nazario has said he won't be able to move on until Nelson's
case is concluded, according to an email to City News Service today from his
attorney, Kevin Barry McDermott. Meanwhile, Nazario, 29, is
living in his native New York, with his wife, Diette, and 3-year-old son,
Gabriel and is considering job offers from the Riverside County Sheriff's
Department, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department. On Aug. 28, 2008, Nazario
was acquitted by a federal jury of voluntary manslaughter, assault with a
dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence -
charges connected to a Nov. 9, 2004, engagement in Fallujah. Federal prosecutors accused
Nazario of killing - and ordering squad mates to kill - four insurgents found
in a house the Marines stormed during the U.S.-led campaign to retake the
Iraqi city. One of Nazario's men had
been fatally shot by an enemy sniper just moments before the alleged
executions occurred. Based on statements by
Nazario's squad members, the U.S. Attorney's office filed charges against
Nazario under the Military Extra Territorial Jurisdiction Act, which was
approved by Congress and signed by former President Bill Clinton in 2000. Under this law, former Armed
Services personnel can be prosecuted for crimes committed during their
military service even after they have long departed active-duty service. Nazario was the first
honorably discharged serviceman prosecuted for combat-related actions and he
is believed to be the first former serviceman tried in a civilian court in
the U.S. for Advertisement actions on the battlefield. The 10-year Marine veteran
was indicted in August 2007 and shortly thereafter fired from the Riverside
Police Department, where he had been working as a patrol officer for roughly
a year. During a weeklong trial last
August, two of Nazario's former squad mates testified for the prosecution.
Neither man said he witnessed a shooting, though both testified they saw the
aftermath. Two Marines refused to
testify, despite a court order. Weemer and Nelson, both still on active-duty,
were charged by military authorities with dereliction of duty and murder in
connection with the Fallujah incident. They pleaded the 5th Amendment when
questioned in Nazario's trial. The men were held in
contempt of court, but U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson later dropped
the charges. Nazario's five attorneys -
all providing their services pro bono - argued the case against their client
lacked foundation because no physical evidence, including bodies, had ever
been recovered. Kevin Barry McDermott, a former Marine JAG attorney, said the
fact not one of the alleged victims' names surfaced should have kept
the case out of court. McDermott told jurors
Nazario's squad "went through hell,'' and the intense fighting the
witnesses experienced in Fallujah had "impacted their memory.'' A nine-woman, three-man jury
spent less than a day deliberating before reaching a not guilty verdict. "The actions we took
got us home safely,'' Nazario said immediately afterward. "We worked
hard to protect our country.'' Now, McDermott said Nazario
is "waiting on the conclusion of the Nelson trial before he starts
taking his life back.'' During his trial, the
ex-Marine's attorneys said he had been assured of being reinstated as a
Riverside police officer if acquitted in the Fallujah case. But McDermott
said today the city has not agreed to rehire him. Riverside City Manager Brad
Hudson did not immediately return calls for comment. According to McDermott,
Nazario was recently approached by actor Gary Sinise's production company
about making a film. "They are interested in
doing an HBO treatment on Fallujah and the case,'' the attorney said.
"We are working out an agreement.'' External link: http://www.thevillagenews.com/story/40347/ |