Marine acquitted of voluntary manslaughter!

Wow...could this be a new trend?

Finally, our troops getting respect!!!

 RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A former Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi detainees was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday in a first-of-its-kind federal trial.

The jury took six hours to find Jose Luis Nazario Jr. not guilty of charges that he killed or caused others to kill four unarmed detainees on Nov. 9, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

The verdict left the 28-year-old defendant in tears. His mother, family and friends cried so loud the judge smacked his gavel in a call for order.

"It's been a long, hard year for my family," Nazario said outside the courtroom. "I need a moment to catch my breath and try to get my life back together."

Thursday's verdict marks the first time a civilian jury has determined whether the alleged actions of a former military service member in combat violated the law of war.

The jury forewoman, Ingrid Wicken, hugged Nazario's sobbing mother, Sandra Montanez, without speaking after the verdict was read. "I watched her all week. She was being tortured every day," Wicken said later.

"I thanked her, God blessed her," Montanez said. "I told her she gave me my son back. It was something I needed to say."

Wicken said the panel acquitted Nazario because there was not enough evidence against him.

"I think you don't know what goes on in combat until you are in combat," she said.

Nazario's attorney, Kevin McDermott, said he believes the verdict will curb faulty filings.

"I don't think they are going to put on a case in the future with a lack of evidence," McDermott said.

Prosecutors alleged that Nazario either killed or caused others to kill four unarmed Iraqi detainees in Fallujah during "Operation Phantom Fury," which resulted in house-to-house fighting.

Other former Marines testified during the five-day trial that they did not see Nazario kill detainees but heard the gunshots.

The case came to light in 2006 when Sgt. Ryan Weemer, Nazario's former squadmate, volunteered details to a U.S. Secret Service job interviewer during a lie-detector screening that included a question about the most serious crime he ever committed. That screening was not admitted at Nazario's trial.

Weemer and another Marine, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, face military charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty. Both maintain their innocence, and both were found in contempt of court for refusing to testify against Nazario.

Had Nazario been convicted of voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, he could have faced more than 10 years in prison.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutor Jerry Behnke urged the jury to convict Nazario, saying he violated his duty as a Marine and must be held accountable for his actions in Fallujah. He said the evidence showed the detainees had surrendered before the shooting.

McDermott told jurors they could not convict the former Marine sergeant of an alleged crime in which there were no bodies, no identities and no forensics. He also argued that a guilty verdict would only make service members second-guess their actions in combat.

Nazario is the first former military service member brought to trial under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which was written in 2000 and amended in 2004 primarily to allow prosecution of civilian contractors who commit crimes while working for the U.S. overseas. It also allows the prosecution of military dependents and former military service members accused of committing crimes outside the United States.

(This version corrects that family and friends, not Nazario, cried so loud judge had to use gavel.)

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I just read a book by a Navy Seal called "Lone Survivor".  I'm sure others have heard of it. 

It is a shame that our senators have the guts to tell our servicemen how to do their jobs.  If these Navy Seals hadn't been worried about their reputations being dragged through the mud by the media, and didn't have the operating orders placed on them by congress, they'd be here to fight for us today. 

Gratefully, these guys weren't held accountable for doing their jobs.

Having been subject to the extraterritiorial crimes act I can tell you that it is a chilling law...when our group was briefed on its meaning and intent, you could have heard a pin drop in that room. Most Defense Contractor employees are serious professionals in their respective trades, professions and crafts. While it is true that deployed contractor employees make very good salaries, it is also true that deployed contractors work very, very hard...no company pays the kind of wages we earn for weak or shoddy work...our 'deliverable product' must meet extremely high standards and be in complete compliance with 11 separate Federal contracting, Federal ethics, Federal security and Federal protection of Defense information laws.

In many cases, Defense Contractor employees face the same dangers and hardships as do our deployed troops.

Under this law any deployed person can be victimized, his or her life turned upside down, career ruined and become the target of criminal prosecution when any bureaucrat (I am one and I know the mindset) or some disgruntled person chooses to throw an allegation against a troop or contractor employee.

This is a bad law...fortunately, this former Marine beat the rap...but there is no guarantee that some other soldier, sailor, airman or Marine; government civilian employee or Defense Contractor employee won't be wrongly charged and, or wrongly convicted.

Good for this Marine!

Now we have to convince Congress to repeal or modify this ridiculous law.