Posted on 06/13/2008 9:13:08 AM PDT by RedRover
RIVERSIDE ---- A second Marine has been found in contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury and has been ordered to jail.
Sgt. Ryan G. Weemer, charged with murder in the death of an Iraqi detainee in Fallujah in 2004, appeared in uniform before U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Larson on Thursday and was ordered into custody after a brief hearing Thursday.
Weemer can be held for up to 18 months unless he decides to testify before the grand jury.
The jury is investigating Weemer's former squad leader, Jose Nazario, who is no longer in the Marine Corps. Nazario is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the killing of two Iraqi captives during fighting in Fallujah in November 2004. He has pleaded not guilty.
Last month, a third defendant in the case, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, spent a week in jail when he refused to answer the grand jury's questions. A judge freed him after he agreed to appear before the panel next week and at least hear the questions that jurors may ask.
Like Weemer, Nelson is charged with one count of unpremeditated murder. Investigative hearings for the two Marines to decide whether their charges will stand will take place at Camp Pendleton later this year.
Rather than a bulwark against “hasty, malicious and oppressive prosecution,” today’s federal grand jury is a rubber stamp, leading many to agree that “a good prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.” Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL)
Hyde was right then, and this case demonstrates he’s still correct.
On what legal bases does this clown of a judge claim jurisdiction. Clown should be impeached.
Hope Sgt. Weemer holds out like Sgt. Nelson did, legal or not this judge is out of line.
This is ridiculous. This is what all soldiers, Marines and fighting personnel are going to be held on now that those same combatants are given constitutional rights. A buddy of mine says he is not going to be looking for “intelligence” assests anymore....they are all going to die. So at some point he will probably be dragged in the muck for his actions by those interepting them as illegal because he was a player in an “illegal” war
MEJA - military extraterratorial jurisdiction act.
While the main problem in our military remains with the Generals and their staffs in DoD, the parasitic lawyers and judges never met an idea that they knew they were not qualified to comprehend.
Being able to prosecute military in federal courts is pathetic, the law should never have been changed to allow it. With no statute of limitations on murder a service member could be prosecuted years later at the whim of a disgruntled fellow service member.
Nazario is out of the Corps and was charged in federal court under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act.
Weemer also got out of the Corps but was recalled so he'd be subject to the UCMJ. But now he's in a federal jail anyway.
What's the point of the UCMJ if military members are also subject to the federal legal system for actions in combat?
Yup! That's what that ruling says to me - Take NO prisoners, ever! No exceptions. Problem solved.
What crummy law. Utterly no justification for it.
Doesn’t seem a little screwy that a service member could be charged under two legal systems?
Untested Law Key in Iraqi Abuse Scandal
It would apply only to crimes committed abroad that carry at least a one-year prison term. It would affect only civilians working for or connected to the Defense Department.
So much for intended laws!
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars to be treated and appreciated by their nation.”—George Washington.
No, not all. In fact, that is what the Fallujah case is all about. Marines allegedly killed insurgent prisoners. Worst case for the Marines, life in prison. Best case, a ruined life.
So much for the thanks of a grateful nation.
To my knowledge, MEJA has only been applied to servicemen who had been discharged before the investigation commenced. In those cases, there is no UCMJ jurisdiction.
Then Sgt Weemer could be first.
The article isn’t rich with detail but a federal judge found him in contempt of a grand jury and he now sits in the county lockup—not in the stockade.
And like Sgt Nelson, he could also be charged with unauthorized leave under the UCMJ for his time in jail.
SGT Weemer is charged with contempt of court in a civilian court. He is a subpeonaed witness there, and his refusal to answer questions there subjects him to liability. The UCMJ doesn't have any immediate jurisdiction over that offense (Article 132 could be used, but that's not really an appropriate use of that) - but Weemer isn't charged under MEJA. Stand corrected.
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