CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SAN DIEGO
Former Marines are mounting a petition in hopes of persuading a general at Camp Pendleton to drop charges against a Marine sergeant accused of killing a prisoner during the battle in Fallouja in 2004.
The Marine has admitted the killing and awaits court-martial on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty.
The drive to have charges dropped against Sgt. Jermaine Nelson began after the acquittal Thursday of Sgt. Ryan Weemer on similar charges. In August, a civilian jury in Riverside found former Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario not guilty in the same case.
Nelson, Weemer and Nazario “voluntarily chose service to our nation and in return we will not abandon them to the equivalent of a witch hunt,” said William McNulty, secretary of the Marine Corps Intelligence Assn., a group of former Marines.
Nelson’s attorney, Joseph Low, plans to present the petition to Camp Pendleton prosecutors to pass on to Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, commander of Marine Forces Central Command and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. As convening authority of Nelson’s court-martial, Helland has authority to drop or modify charges.
McNulty’s group is seeking signatures from former Marines and civilians. The petition is on www.blackfive.net.
-- Tony Perry
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