Marine is acquitted in fatal shooting of Iraqi prisoner

A military jury acquitted Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer on Thursday of all charges in the fatal shooting of an Iraqi prisoner during a 2004 battle in Fallouja.

At Camp Pendleton, a jury of eight officers, all of whom had served in Iraq, Afghanistan or both, deliberated for seven hours over two days before announcing its decision.

Weemer was charged with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty, which could have brought a life sentence. The court-martial judge had also given the jury the option of finding him guilty of voluntary manslaughter or assault, which would have brought lesser penalties.

Weemer’s sister, mother and high school English teacher broke down in tears when the verdict was read. His lead civilian attorney, Paul Hackett, embraced Weemer, whose eyes appeared to glisten with tears. Marines in the courtroom did the “knuckle-bump” as a sign of joy.

Three Marines were charged in the killing of four prisoners; two have now been acquitted. Whether the third case will proceed to court-martial is unclear. “I was justified in what I did over there,” Weemer told reporters after the verdict. Hackett said the prisoners were insurgents intent on killing Americans and “got what they deserved.”

Weemer, 26, was charged with killing a prisoner on the first day of the U.S. assault on insurgent strongholds, the bloodiest combat the Marine Corps had experienced since the battle for Hue City during the Vietnam War. His squad, like many others, had been ordered to clear houses of insurgents, many of whom were barricaded and heavily armed.

Even before the sweep could begin, Weemer’s best friend, Lance Cpl. Juan Segura, was fatally wounded by a sniper. In a 90-minute interview with a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent in 2006, Weemer told of being covered with Segura’s blood when his squad burst into a home and found four “military-age” males and several weapons.

A superior, informed about the prisoners, asked over the radio, “Are they dead yet?” according to Weemer’s statement. Weemer said he initially resisted an order from his squad leader, Sgt. Jose Nazario, that he help in killing the four so that the Marines could continue to the next house.

But he said he relented because Nazario was a superior. In his interview with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent, Weemer said he shot the insurgent twice in the chest and instantly felt remorseful. No mention was made of self-defense in that interview.

Two of his former squad members, called by Weemer’s defense attorney, testified that soon after the killing, Weemer told them he shot the prisoner because the prisoner had lunged for his gun. The incident would probably never have come to the attention of military brass except for Weemer’s job interview with the Secret Service in 2006 when he was working at a Starbucks in Missouri.

The Secret Service interview led to the investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and then criminal charges. Weemer was recalled to active duty to stand trial.

Nazario was fired as a probationary police officer in Riverside when charged in federal court. He was acquitted in August of killing two of the prisoners and ordering the killing of the other two.

Civilian jurors said they felt it was improper for them to be asked to judge an action taken in combat. Nazario had left the Marine Corps and could not be tried by court-martial.

Sgt. Jermaine Nelson also was charged in the case, although the acquittals of Weemer and Nazario could lead to a dismissal of charges against him. Nelson had confessed to killing an insurgent.

Hackett argued that Weemer was caught in a chaotic day and given a direct order by a superior. He also noted that the prosecution had no forensic evidence, no name for the alleged victim, no autopsy record and no eyewitnesses. Nazario refused to testify; in Nazario’s trial, Weemer had refused to testify.

In his closing argument, Capt. Nicholas Gannon, the lead prosecutor, noted that other Marines, also part of the assault, followed orders to treat prisoners humanely even if it meant leaving the battlefield to take them to a makeshift jail. Hundreds of prisoners were taken during the opening of the assault, Gannon noted.

“You are the conscience of the Marine Corps,” Gannon told jurors before they began deliberations.

--

tony.perry@latimes.com