Marine Sergeant Acquitted of Murdering Unarmed Iraqi

[ToughOmbre]

Great news! The marine (or any soldier) in combat will always get the benefit of the doubt from me.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

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.

Weemer could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and dishonorable discharge if convicted of murder. The maximum sentence for dereliction is six months in prison and a bad conduct discharge.

The defense argued during closing arguments that the 26-year-old Weemer acted in self-defense.

A prosecutor recounted that Weemer said in recorded interviews that he shot the man and told a squadmate that he would have to live with that for the rest of his life.

TO

[Amsel]

I always figured he would be aquitted. The military is somewhat different from a regular criminal court when it comes to shootings in the midst of battle. If one is deemed a threat for whatever reason, even if the reason is not readily visible to someone in hindsight then the threat can be nuetralized.

[mkloby]

I always figured he would be aquitted. The military is somewhat different from a regular criminal court when it comes to shootings in the midst of battle. If one is deemed a threat for whatever reason, even if the reason is not readily visible to someone in hindsight then the threat can be nuetralized.

Depends on the ROE

[lesofprimus]

ROE are very important to scenarios like this one.... In my time, we dealt with some really bad ROE and sometimes they were unbelievably relaxed....

I would assume that this Marines ROE were similar to those of the majority in country.... If I remember correctly, this episode was caught on video tape.... After coming under attack from a village building, they entered and found dead/wounded inside... This guy Weemer assumed there was still a threat from this wounded insurgent and took appropriate action to eliminate the threat....

Putting down a possibly still aggressive wounded combatant is a part of the ROE... I would know...

[Vassili Zaitzev]

I'm glad he was acquitted, and tried by a jury of his peers.

[RabidAlien]

Right on!