Marine jailed for refusing to testify in Iraq case (unarmed detainee killed in Fallujah)

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - For the second time in two weeks, a Marine accused of killing an unarmed detainee in Fallujah, Iraq was jailed for refusing to testify about a former squadmate.

Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson was jailed on Tuesday for contempt of court and could be held for up to 18 months.

Nelson is among three Marines accused of shooting unarmed captives in November 2004 during some of the heaviest fighting of the war. The Marine clasped his hands behind his back before marshals led him away.

"There are few things that give me less pleasure," U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson said. "I have a profound respect for his service to our country. ... Everyone in this courtroom is indebted to him."

Another judge ordered Nelson, 26, of New York, to testify before a federal grand jury investigating Sgt. Jose Nazario, a former Marine charged in the killings of two Iraqi captives. Nazario faces trial on Aug. 19.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/ap_on_re_us/marines_fallujah

[loveable liberal]

1. I have sympathy for the guy if he testifies... if he doesnt then ...

screw him. Let him rot in a cell. I'm sick and tired of hearing about sacrifices military people make for this country. I am not in the military and yet I sacrifice every working day. Yes, I work and pay taxes so that men and women in the armed forces have what they need. And, if this country was seriously at risk of being invaded, I would step up to the plate and be willing to die for it.

This Judge, so willing to state that he is indebted to this young man who alledgedly killed an unarmed, restrained civilian, who then shits on the very laws he was sent to protect... makes me sick. Screw him.

[cstanleytech]

2. Can he be charged as an accomplice if he refuses to testify about what he saw?