Marine Charged Again With Iraq Murder (Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson)

Breitbart ^ | Dec 7, 2007 | CHELSEA J. CARTER, AP

[RDTF]

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A Marine was charged a second time with murdering a detainee three years ago in Fallujah, Iraq, the military announced Friday.

Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson was charged with murder and dereliction of duty, charges that were earlier dismissed to give a general time to review the case.

-snip-

[RDTF]

ping

[pyx]

A Marine was charged a second time

Laws on double jeopardy don't apply ?

[ErnBatavia]

I’d say only if he’d been tried.

[pyx]

charges that were earlier dismissed to give a general time

WTF ? If the charges were dismissed, the Marine is innocent PERIOD

[r9etb]

WTF ? If the charges were dismissed, the Marine is innocent PERIOD

"Dismissed" sounds like the reporter's word. The context of the sentence implies that they were "deferred" pending the general's review.

[kellynla]

If they don’t want Marines to kill the enemy;
then don’t send us off to war.

gezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

And they wonder why recruiting is down.

Bottom line: No autopsy, no case.

Semper Fi,
Kelly

“America is not at war. The Marine Corps is at war; America is at the mall.”
Anonymous

[PAR35]

You might want to avoid comment on legal topics until you do a bit of reading on double jeopardy and criminal procedure.

[RedRover]

We have a piece (from September 12) on the back story at Defend Our Marines, CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST MARINE...FOR NOW?.

The charges were initially filed against Sgt Nelson when Gen Mattis was away from Pendleton. When Gen Mattis returned, he went ballistic and ordered that charges be dropped until the case was reviewed.

Since then, Mattis has moved up and out. So this is the first legal decision by LtGen Helland as the new Convening Authority in Pendleton.

[Puppage]

Laws on double jeopardy don't apply ?

It's only double jeopardy if you're tried a 2nd time, not simply charged. However, one would think that if charged, you would be brought to trial.

[Girlene]

Here they go again. More on the charges from North County Times Marine Corps sergeant charged with detainee murder

CAMP PENDLETON -- The Marine Corps on Friday announced it was refiling a murder charge against a sergeant accused of taking part in the killing of a group of insurgent detainees during a battle for the city of Fallujah in November 2004.

Sgt. Jermaine Nelson faces a possible life prison sentence if convicted of the charge.

Nelson is also charged with dereliction of duty. That charge alleges he failed to follow the rules of engagement and the laws of war regarding the handling of detained prisoners of war.

An Article 32 hearing for Nelson, who remains on active duty at Camp Pendleton, is tentatively slated to take place in January, said a Marine Corps spokesman, Lt. Col. Sean Gibson. Article 32 hearings are conducted to determine if there is sufficient evidence to order a case to trial by court-martial.

Nelson was part of a squad led by former Marine sergeant Jose L. Nazario Jr. that is accused of capturing four insurgent fighters on the third day of the Fallujah fight, the largest battle of the Iraq war.

Nazario was charged in U.S. District Court in Riverside in August with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He is being prosecuted in civilian court because he is no longer in the Marine Corps and was not subject to recall into the service.

A month after Nazario was charged, the Marine Corps announced it was filing a murder charge against Nelson. A short time after that, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, then of Camp Pendleton, ordered the charge against Nelson withdrawn pending a review of the investigation.

Mattis has since moved to a new assignment and the review of the investigation was transferred to Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, head of the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

When Nelson was charged in September, the Marine Corps did not allege as it does now that he had violated several tenets of the law of war and the rules for handling insurgent detainees.

Nazario's attorneys contend the Fallujah case involves 3-year-old battlefield decisions that potential juries now may be asked to rule upon.

It was not immediately clear Friday morning if Nelson has retained a civilian attorney nor whether he has been assigned a Marine Corps defense attorney.

The case emerged when a former member of the Kilo Company squad from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Ryan Weemer, allegedly told the Secret Service during a job interview several months ago that he was aware of an "unlawful death."

That disclosure triggered an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, leading to the charges against Nelson and Nazario.

An affidavit from a NCIS agent released when Nazario was charged alleges the squad captured the detainees and shot four of them inside a house in Fallujah.

Nazario's lead attorney, Kevin McDermott of Orange County, has said his client does not acknowledge such an incident ever occurred.

[pyx]

You might want to avoid comment

? <-- This is called a QUESTION MARK. It appears at the end of a question and not a comment. Similar to the QUESTION I asked above.

[pyx]

It's only double jeopardy if you're tried a 2nd time, not simply charged.

I see. Thanks for the clarificaton. Its appreciated.

[PAR35]

? <-- This is called a QUESTION MARK. It appears at the end of a question and not a comment.

Sorry, but I'm not spotting the question mark at the end of this sentence: If the charges were dismissed, the Marine is innocent PERIOD

[pyx]

The context of the sentence implies that they were "deferred" pending the general's review.

How long a period of time can a review last ? Can this be deferred a very long time ? Can a defense object to a deferral that is too long ?

[pyx]

Sorry

Apology accepted.

[Girlene]

Another article (AP) on Sgt. Nelson's chargesMarine charged again with murder in death of detainee

Related to this case, a motion hearing for former Marine Sgt. Nazario is to be held on Dec. 17 in federal court since he is no longer accountable to the UCMJ. Detainee killing case tests little-used 2000 law From that article,

The fact that a three-year-old alleged battlefield incident is being prosecuted at all sends a troubling message, according to one of Nazario's attorneys, Kevin McDermott of Orange County.

"It's one thing to have senior military officers and investigators decide there are issues on a battlefield that need to be examined," McDermott said during an interview last week. "We could now be asking civilians to issue their own secondhand opinions."

[r9etb]

How long a period of time can a review last ?

No clue. In the civilian world there's no statute of limitations for murder charges: one sometimes reads about civilian murder charges for cases that are decades old.

It's possible that there's likewise no statute of limitations for murder under the UCMJ, but I don't know.

[Shelayne]

Thanks for the ping.

This crap has to stop. This is positively insane. I was really hoping that the new Convening Authority would think this is bunk. How do you prosecute a murder with NO FORENSICS—no body, no crime scene, no evidence, no direct witness—and conflicting statements? You can’t even really call this circumstantial evidence with a straight face. Or am I missing something?

This should be LAUGHED out of court.

If this holds in civilian court with Sgt. Nazario, then I would think this could set a very DANGEROUS precedent for future criminal proceedings.

In any case, I am not having a very good feeling about LtGen Helland. :^(

[Girlene]

I don’t think you’re missing much, Shelayne. The case with Nazario being tried in a civilian court on batteleground decisions in Fallujah is also quite troubling.