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Sgt Ryan Weemer, accused of killing an unarmed man during the battle of Fallujah. Acquitted by a jury of eight officers who had been in combat. Good thing Jack Murtha wasn't on the jury; he would have likely voted for conviction before the first witness was sworn. Tell me again how he keeps winning elections. And then fix it, please.

A military jury on Thursday acquitted a Marine sergeant on charges of murdering an unarmed detainee during battle in Fallujah, Iraq.

CAMP PENDLETON -- A military jury this morning acquitted Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi insurgent during the battle for the city of Fallujah in 2004. The 26-year-old Illinois native hugged his attorney, who broke into tears on hearing the not-guilty verdict. Weemer's wife, sister and high school English teacher, who attended each day of the trial that started March 30, also cried as the decision was read. Weemer was charged last year with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty. Prosecutors alleged that as a corporal, he killed one of four captive insurgents the government...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – A military jury has acquitted an Illinois Marine sergeant on charges of murdering an unarmed detainee during battle in Fallujah, Iraq. The jury of eight Marines who served in Iraq or Afghanistan also acquitted Sgt. Ryan Weemer on Thursday of dereliction of duty in the November 2004 death.

CAMP PENDLETON ----- Eight Marine Corps officers are weighing the fate of a sergeant accused of killing an Iraqi insurgent prisoner of war in what a prosecutor acknowledged is a "tough case." The panel is deciding whether 26-year-old Sgt. Ryan Weemer committed murder, as the prosecution alleges, or acted in self-defense, as the Illinois native's attorney contends. At minimum, prosecutor Capt. Nicholas Gannon told jurors Wednesday that Weemer is guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the 2004 incident that occurred in the opening hours of an intense, door-to-door fight for the Anbar province city of Fallujah.

CAMP PENDLETON ----- A panel of eight Marine officers is deliberating the fate of a sergeant accused of killing an Iraqi insurgent prisoner of war in what a prosecutor acknowledged is a "tough case." During his closing argument in the trial of 26-year-old Sgt. Ryan Weemer, prosecutor Capt. Nick Gannon suggested that at minimum, the 26 year-old Marine is guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the 2004 incident in the city of Fallujah. Gannon said two statements Weemer made to investigators in 2006 contain no mention of self-defense. Weemer's attorney has said self-defense is what drove his client's actions. "This case...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine Corps hero showered praise Monday on a comrade who is on trial for killing an unarmed prisoner of war. Navy Cross recipient Sgt. Maj. Brad Kasal said the accused Marine, Sgt. Ryan Weemer, was a skilled warrior who always displayed "excellent" military characteristics. Kasal was given the Navy Cross, the second-highest award a Marine can receive, for saving fellow Marines despite suffering severe wounds during the "Hell House" battle in Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 13, 2004. Both Kasal, now head of a five-state recruiting region based in Des Moines, Iowa, and Weemer were injured that...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- After failing to convict the first of three men to face trial in the alleged slaying of four insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, authorities will try again next week when Sgt. Ryan Weemer goes on trial. Weemer, the man at the center of the case, faces charges of unpremeditated murder and failing to adhere to the military's rules governing the treatment of captured enemy combatants. He has pleaded not guilty. Weemer was part of a squad from the base's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment that is alleged to have encountered four suspected insurgents during the search...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Prosecutors want to drop contempt proceedings against two Marines who refused to testify against their former squad leader when he was being tried for the killings of four unarmed Iraqi detainees. Los Angeles-based U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien filed the motion Monday, asking U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson to drop the charges against Sgt. Ryan Weemer and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson. They refused to testify at the civilian trial of former Marine Jose Luis Nazario Jr., who was found not guilty of charges that he killed or caused others to kill four detainees in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. Weemer...

Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer is accused of murdering an enemy combatant captured a few hours after his squad crossed the line of departure on November 9, 2004 to attack Fallujah, Iraq. The government claims somebody gave Weemer’s squad leader an order over a radio to kill four prisoners they had just captured and Weemer was one of the Marines who complied. Weemer’s former squad leader Jose L. Nazario, and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, an assaultman attached to his squad, are also accused of murder in the affair. After Weemer and Nelson waived their right to legal counsel they both gave voluntary...

A Marine sergeant charged with murdering an enemy combatant captured in Fallujah during the heat of battle repeatedly told Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agents he didn’t do anything wrong. Sergeant Ryan Weemer’s words were captured during a lengthy 2006 interview with NCIS Special Agents Mark Fox and Tess Berg obtained by Defend Our Marines. The interview took place on November 16 in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of Saint Louis. A carefully cherry-picked version of his statement was revealed by the prosecution during Weemer’s Article 32 preliminary hearing last week. Much less was said about Weemer’s apparent confusion, his overwhelming...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A military prosecutor on Friday asked a Marine officer to recommend that a veteran of the legendary Fallujah battle be tried for murder for his admission that he killed a prisoner under his control. "While he is a remarkably sympathetic figure," prosecutor Nick Gannon said of Sgt. Ryan Weemer, "especially on these facts, this is not a gray area. It's black and white. It's right and wrong." Gannon bolstered his argument by pointing to testimony that Marines who took prisoners during the massive 2004 offensive in Fallujah were told to treat the detainees humanely and get them...

(Published July 10, 2008) CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer hoped his battle experience in Fallujah and other Iraqi hot zones would pave the way to a job in the Secret Service. Instead, the 25-year-old is among three Marines charged with murdering unarmed captives in November 2004, during some of the heaviest house-to-house fighting of the Iraq war. ADVERTISEMENT Cracking the Code of Sexual Chemistry and Attraction Still Time to Slim Down for Summer More Scholarships for Working Moms Going Back to College Weemer is due in a Camp Pendleton courtroom Thursday for a daylong preliminary hearing, known...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The killing of four unarmed detainees during a battle for Fallujah nearly four years ago is the focus of a hearing this week for a Marine sergeant charged with one of the slayings. Sgt. Ryan Weemer is accused of murder and six counts of dereliction of duty in the incident that authorities say took place during the height of fighting for what was then an insurgent stronghold in Iraq's Anbar province. The hearing, scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Thursday, is the latest chapter in a series of cases involving Camp Pendleton troops charged with unlawful killings...

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...

SAN DIEGO -- A Camp Pendleton Marine has been charged with murder and dereliction of duty for his alleged role three years ago in the killing of a detainee in Fallujah, Iraq. Sgt. Ryan Weemer on Tuesday became the third person charged in the case that centers on allegations that a Marine squad shot a group of unarmed captives during heavy fighting in November 2004. The case came to light when the 25-year-old Weemer applied for a job with the Secret Service. Investigators claim Weemer described the killing during a polygraph test that included a question about whether he had...