50cal

Contrasting views of Marine in Fallujah trial




By Chelsea J. Carter - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 21, 2008 15:40:16 EDT

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Lawyers painted strikingly contrasting portraits Thursday of a former Marine charged in a first-of-its-kind federal case alleging he killed unarmed detainees in Fallujah.
Jose Luis Nazario Jr., 28, is the first civilian to be tried under a federal law that allows the prosecution of former military service members for war crimes.
In his opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kovats described Nazario as a man who killed “unarmed, submissive, docile” detainees and encouraged men under his charge to do the same thing.
“He shot and killed, and he had his subordinate Marines shoot and kill,” Kovats said.
Defense attorney Kevin McDermott countered that Nazario killed insurgents to save his comrades in a city where every resident was looking for a fight.
“Almost immediately, the rules of engagement were thrown out,” McDermott told jurors. “The insurgents don’t play by the rules of engagement.”
Nazario, of Riverside, is charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter on suspicion of killing or causing others to kill four unarmed detainees in November 2004 during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
He also faces one count of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of all the charges, he could face more than 10 years in prison.
The case has drawn national attention with the prosecution’s use of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, a law written in 2000 and amended in 2004 primarily to allow the prosecution of civilian contractors who commit crimes while working for the U.S. overseas.
But it also allows for military dependents and those no longer in the military who commit crimes outside the U.S. to be brought to trial.
Kovats told the jury that Nazario and his Marines were under orders to move into Fallujah and clear it of insurgents on Nov. 9, 2004 — the opening day of the battle for the city.
“The fighting was brutal,” he said.
Within hours, one of Nazario’s squad members was killed. Two hours later, the Marines entered a house and found four men sitting on the floor — “unarmed, unresisting, with their arms up,” the prosecutor said.
Kovats said Marines would testify during the trial that Nazario asked for help to kill the four men. One Marine who saw the bodies will testify that three were shot in the head and one in the chest, he said.
Unlike Nazario, jurors should show “honor, courage and commitment” in convicting him, the prosecutor said.
McDermott described the events leading to the battle of Fallujah, including bodies of private security contractors burned and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.
“The defense is here to tell you the acts that the government described did not occur as described here,” he said.
He told jurors they would be the first civilians to sit in judgment about actions in combat.
“What the government is asking you to do is to dictate to every young man,” he said. “You’d better be right, you’d better be absolutely certain, or we are going to second guess you,” he said.
The case came to light in 2006, when Nazario’s former squadmate, Sgt. Ryan Weemer, volunteered details to a U.S. Secret Service job interviewer during a lie-detector screening that included a question about the most serious crime he ever committed.
Weemer, of Hindsboro, Ill., was ordered this month to stand trial in military court on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty in the killing of an unarmed detainee in Fallujah. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to a Naval Criminal Investigative Service criminal complaint, several Marines allege Nazario shot two Iraqi men who had been detained while his squad searched a house.
The complaint claims four Iraqi men were killed during the action.
It is unclear what, if anything, Marines being subpoenaed to testify will say about the events in the house in Fallujah.
Another Marine, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, 26, of New York is slated to be court-martialed in December on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty for his role in the deaths.
Although he has not entered a plea in military court, Nelson’s attorney has said his client is innocent.
Nelson and Weemer were jailed in June for contempt of court for refusing to testify against Nazario before a federal grand jury thought to be investigating the case. Both were released July 3 and returned to Camp Pendleton.

Related reading: Jury seated in Fallujah trial of former Marine

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