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Two Marines refuse to testify in ex-comrade’s case in Iraq deaths
Saturday, August 23, 2008 | No comments posted.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A judge found two Marines in contempt of court Friday for refusing to testify against a former squad leader accused of killing unarmed detainees in Iraq, but he rejected the prosecution’s pleas to throw the men in jail immediately.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson instead ordered Sgt. Ryan Weemer and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson to return to court in 30 days to begin proceedings on the contempt charges.
The men invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination after being called to testify in the civilian trial of former Marine Jose Luis Nazario Jr. The two face military charges of their own over the Nov. 9, 2004, shootings in Fallujah during some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq war.
The case came to light in 2006 when Weemer volunteered details to a U.S. Secret Service job interviewer during a lie-detector screening.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson instead ordered Sgt. Ryan Weemer and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson to return to court in 30 days to begin proceedings on the contempt charges.
The men invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination after being called to testify in the civilian trial of former Marine Jose Luis Nazario Jr. The two face military charges of their own over the Nov. 9, 2004, shootings in Fallujah during some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq war.
The case came to light in 2006 when Weemer volunteered details to a U.S. Secret Service job interviewer during a lie-detector screening.
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