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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| USMC Trial Degenerates Into Cluster |
| 2009-04-04 |
| A former Marine who prosecutors say led the slaying of four unarmed Iraqi insurgents refused to testify Thursday evening against one of the men charged in the shootings. Jose L. Nazario Jr. appeared at the end of a marathon session in the trial of Sgt. Ryan Weemer, who is accused of killing one of the prisoners the men had captured inside a home in the city of Fallujah on Nov. 9, 2004. "With all due respect, I will not answer any questions," Nazario repeatedly told a prosecutor, Capt. Nick Gannon. The judge presiding over Weemer's trial, Lt. Col. Thomas Sanzi, reminded the former Marine that he had an immunity grant and a subpoena directing he testify. "You have to answer," Sanzi told Nazario, who was acquitted last August of two counts of manslaughter for his role in the incident. When Nazario still refused, the judge and Gannon gave up. "It's futile, given his recalcitrance," Gannon said. The jury that acquitted Nazario said it could not decide the propriety of actions occurring on a foreign battlefield. Nazario was tried as a civilian in U.S. District Court in Riverside because he was out of the Marine Corps and not subject to being recalled to duty. Weemer has pleaded not guilty to one count of unpremeditated murder and four counts of dereliction of duty for alleged mistreatment of detainees. During Nazario's trial, Weemer and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, who is charged with killing the fourth prisoner, also defied subpoenas and refused to testify. Thursday was punctuated with continuous legal wrangling and multiple interruptions in witness testimony. On two occasions, lead defense attorney Paul Hackett asked for a mistrial declaration, contending that the jury had been tainted by hearing statements from prosecutors and witnesses that he argued were overly prejudicial. On Wednesday, Hackett was accused of doing much the same thing when he asked a government investigator if he was aware that Nazario had been acquitted. That statement also tainted the jury, prosecutors said. The judge refused to declare a mistrial. A key witness appearing Thursday was Cory Carlisle, a member of the squad inside the home when the slayings are alleged to have occurred. Carlisle said that shortly after hearing a gunshot inside the home, he saw the then-Cpl. Weemer standing near the body of the oldest captive. "He went for my gun," Carlisle said Weemer told him. Later that day as they sat inside a Humvee, Carlisle said Weemer expressed remorse and said the prisoners were killed because of a "command from higher up." Carlisle, like Weemer, was shot and wounded a few days after the incident. But he said the prisoner shooting was worse than being wounded. "I often refer to it as 'the worst day of my life,' " Carlisle said, adding he second-guesses himself for not having intervened. Asked by Gannon if he believed anything warranted the prisoners being shot, Carlisle said no. "They were unarmed," he said. Weemer's attorneys say Nazario ordered the shootings and Weemer did so only in self-defense. Nazario's order to shoot came after he radioed insurgents had been captured and was reportedly told by an unnamed superior to "take care of it" and asked "are they dead yet?" The trial continues Friday morning and testimony is expected to conclude Friday or Monday. It takes two-thirds of the jury to convict Weemer on any of the charges he faces. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |