Posted on 07/15/2008 8:27:02 AM PDT by RedRover
Read the indictment here.
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A former Marine sergeant charged with killing captured enemy combatants in Fallujah, Iraq more than three years ago has taken another bullet from a California federal Grand Jury.
The Grand Jury has handed up a superseding indictment charging Jose L. Nazario with the added charges of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Discharging a Firearm during a Crime of Violence, and Causing an Act – in this case multiple murder – by two junior Marines under his command, the undated indictment shows.
The 28-year old former Riverside Police Department rookie and eight year Marine veteran is already charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter for allegedly killing two of four Iraqi combatants his squad captured in a fortified house on November 9, 2004. The junior Marines – unnamed in the indictment – allegedly killed the other two combatants.
Nazario was indicted last August by a different Grand Jury hearing testimony at the US District Court for Central California in Riverside and released on $50,000 bond. He was subsequently fired from his job as a police officer. Without money, he was forced to return home in New York with his wife and infant son until his case comes to trial August 19, he said.
Government prosecutors, apparently unsatisfied with the indictment, then went back to a new Grand Jury for more charges. During the investigation that began in November 2006 as many as 20 Marines, including Nazario’s platoon leader, platoon sergeant, and platoon guide, were either questioned by or refused to speak to NCIS investigators.
In the interim Sergeants Ryan Weemer and Jermaine Nelson, corporals under Nazario’s command in Iraq, were arrested and charged by the Marine Corps with murder and dereliction of duty. More charges against other Marines are pending if prosecutors determine who allegedly gave Nazario the order to kill the prisoners over the radio, knowledgeable sources say.
Weemer and Nelson are currently under open arrest at Camp Pendleton. Both men were released from a civilian jail on July 3rd after being charged with civil contempt of court by a federal judge for refusing to testify against Nazario or each other.
All three Marines, veterans of 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, are veterans of the renowned “Hell House” engagement in November 2004 that was heralded world-wide in the press. Weemer was shot three times at the Hell House, where Nazario was cited for bravery.
So far the government has been unable to produce any physical evidence to support its case. Defense lawyers say Nazario’s prosecution may be the first case in American jurisprudence that the identity of the alleged victims is unknown and unreported by anyone as missing.
Bush should be doing something about this now. It shouldn’t have even got this far.
Not only that; this may be the first time that a former United States Military Member has been indicted for trial as if he had waged War AGAINST the United States:
No matter how the Supremes or anyone else wants to spin this, these show trials are UNconstitutional!
This does not bode well for us as a nation.
In the animal kingdom of which we are part, when a species begins to eat its own young, that species is headed toward extinction.
“Military Extra Territorial Jurisdiction Act. “
Every time I read that, I read Extra Terrestrial, which actually makes more sense to me.
>>Has the flipping world gone mad?
Yes, it has. Here we have a Marine charged with defending his country and he is charged with carrying a weapon. What the *** is supposed to have, a Nerf bat.
Yes, it has. Terrorist at Gitmo now have more rights than their captors.
How do you figure?
The SCOTUS had the opportunity to emphatically and clearly separate the Law of War from both the Judicial and the Legislative branches' domain (except for declaration and funding, per the War Powers Act for the Legislative) but they did not.
The Constitution gives the Judicial branch no authority whatsoever with regard to war.
That this court is even hearing this case is evidence that the Constitution is almost entirely ignored by our courts now.
Nazario was out the Marines, and so is being charged under MEJA by the feds. (See post above for more).
Makes sense to me. He was kinda ordered to carry a gun during the battle of Fallujah. That’s a typical lawful order for any Marine in battle. So charging him for actually following lawful orders makes no sense.
Congess passed MEJA, under which Nazario is being charged. It didn’t come from a court.
If the application of MEJA in this case is unconstitutional, there’s been nary a squawk from legislators. I’m not sure what the grounds would be for a legal challenge in any event.
You’ve got your cases mixed up. This is not the Gitmo case.
This the the Sgt Nazario Marine Corps case.
Congress passed the military territorial act. No court has had anything to do with that law yet.
I agree that Bush should do something about this case now. But he needs to issue a very broad pardon to the military, CIA, contractors, etc. for all acts committed in the war on terror, excluding rape. Some people who ought to be in prison will get off, like those Abu Ghraib idiots and crooked contractors. But better that than years of persecution of the troops under this extraterritorial jurisdiction act.
All at once that becomes a crime in the hands of a corrupt prosecution team.
There are people very concerned with the combat Marine angle who bought off on sending Compeon and Ramos to prison. Wonder if they're ready to change their minds.
Again, its in the Western half of the country, within the jurisdiction of the 9th Circus where those prosectors know they can get away with unlawful and unconstitutional prosecution of soldiers, sailers, marines AND border patrol folks.
Every US government employee who carries a weapon within the 9th's jurisdiction should immediately request being relieved of that responsibility/authority. Just do it with a certified return receipt letter to your boss.
The risk is too great to continue being armed.
No -- this is an open ended means of going after anyone !!
And here I thought "1984" was fiction.
SOS every time. Pile up the charges no matter how rediculous or unrelated they may be in the hopes that the defense will fold/plead, and these ambulance chasing weekend warriors can brag to their hunting partners about the Marine they just bagged.
No Honor Amongst Thieves Or Attorneys!
But that's exactly the point!
The specific case doesn't really matter. The salient principle is that U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over "war stuff".
Gitmo, Haditha, it doesn't matter. They should keep their hands off all of it!
The traitors have found a way to prosecute our military in civilian courts for things that happen in a war zone, using civilian laws.
This can not be allowed to stand. The prosecution must be thrown out and the law under which it is being done repealed. To do anything less puts our soldiers in a completely untennible position.
Vietnam Vets were spit on by the leftist scum, but not prosecuted and jailed. Make no mistake: this is a huge escalation of the "Lawfare" strategy of the enemy. The enemy is among us. We are not only fighting Jihadi terrorists, we are fighting 3rd generation leftist subversives, neo-communists who have spent years burrowing into the judicial branch to allow for these types of Stalinist show trials.
This is a total outrage.
General Patreus needs to speak up on this.
I have said for a long time our guys over there are fighting two enemies; the international outlaws, or as their allies in the media call them”fighters” and their own high command.
But that is just my opinion.
I'm waiting for a country like Cuba, Venezuela or Zimbabwe to bring us up on charges in the world court. Although it almost seems more likely our "allies" in Europe would be the first to do it.
Upshot: such nonsense only goes on until people stop cooperating.
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