Marine is acquitted in killing of Iraqi

April 10, 2009|Elliot Spagat, Associated Press

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine who told authorities he shot an unarmed detainee in Iraq was acquitted of murder by a military jury yesterday, marking the government's second loss in its case against members of the squad.

The jury also acquitted Sergeant Ryan Weemer of dereliction of duty in the Nov. 9, 2004, killing at a house in Fallujah on the first day of a battle that included some of the Iraq war's heaviest combat. The jury of eight Marines, all of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan, got the case Wednesday afternoon.

Weemer, 26, of Hindsboro, Ill., briefly embraced his lawyer after the verdict was read, then looked straight ahead and showed no emotion. His wife, sister, and high school English teacher wept in the front row.

Paul Hackett, one of Weemer's lawyers, said jurors told him that they considered the difficult circumstances of the shooting and that they believed the four men Weemer's squad killed in the house were insurgents.

During the one-week court-martial, the defense argued that the government could not prove Weemer was guilty of murder because there were no bodies, no relatives complaining of a lost loved one, and no forensic evidence.

Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center, said the government's bigger problem was that the shooting occurred during battle.

"When you're in the heat of combat, you often don't have the luxury of making judgments based on all the evidence," said Solis, a Vietnam War veteran. "You must act, and you must act instantly."