Posted on 04/15/2009 4:40:39 PM PDT by RedRover
PITTSBURGH - U.S. Rep. John Murtha shouldn't be immune from a defamation lawsuit for saying Marines killed Iraqi women and children "in cold blood," because the lawmaker's comments came outside the scope of his official duties, a former Marine's attorney said.
The attorney, Noah Geary, on Wednesday filed an amended federal defamation lawsuit on behalf of Justin Sharratt, 24, a former lance corporal from Canonsburg. The new complaint, which adds 13 paragraphs to a lawsuit originally filed in September, was prompted by the dismissal of a similar suit against Murtha by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Go Justin.
WONDERFUL, Go Justin!!!
Thanks for posting this, Red.
To be added to the Murtha Watch ping list please notify myself or RedRover.
Hey, rework the headline! There ain’t no such thing as an “Ex Marine” (even if that is what the article headline says)!
Well, murtha is an ex-Marine, but he is the only one I know of.
good. Get that scumbag Murtha in court!
Balls of Steel takes on a Piece of Shit
and BOS ain’t no “Ex-Marine”
The Appeals Court ruling that Murtha was immune from a lawsuit because the remarks were made as part of his official duties is bullsh*t as well.
First of all, Murtha was making gratitous unfounded accusations apart from his duties as a congress critter, just as the new defamation suit claims.
Second of all, even if they were made as a part of his genuine duties, the accusations were so reckless and over the top, this defense would not stand. Recall exactly the same defense being made in the Nuremberg Trials and said defense being dismissed because the actions of the accused were so far beyond the standards of normal, civilized behavior that the worst of the lot were hanged anyway.
Under the appeals court standard, the only one who would have been hanged was Julius Streicher, because he was the only one of the defendants acting outside official nazi government capacity.
Justin is a retired Marine, murtha is an ex-Marine.
The revised complaint makes it "abundantly clear that Murtha was, in fact, acting outside the scope of his employment when he slandered Justin Sharratt" and, therefore, can be held liable for his comments, Geary told The Associated Press.
The new complaint also accuses Murtha of making the comments for "purely personal reasons," namely, to curry favor with U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who would be selected Speaker of the House a few months later.
Among other things, Geary claims Murtha had no official business commenting on an ongoing Pentagon investigation. "It is wholly foreign to employment as a member of the legislative branch to make conclusory statements of fact about an ongoing criminal investigation conducted by the executive branch," Geary said.
Geary noted that Murtha claimed his Haditha information came from Pentagon higher-ups, who denied that.
Geary nails it when he says it was an investigation being conducted by the executive branch and Murtha is in the legislative branch, and that investigation wasn’t completed until long after Murtha shot his mouth off.
I hope that this FORMER MARINE wins his case.
BTW! There is NO such thing as an ex-MARINE, just those who are no longer on duty.
A Murtha spokesman referred questions to the Justice Department. His Justice Department attorney did not immediately return a call.
It's a good thing I can't get my hands on Justin : ) This is just beyond sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.
***** “ murtha is an ex-Marine, but he is the only one I know of “ *****
I do believe he is the only one, if there are any others they are either dead or in an nObama witness protection program.
TT
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