Corporal to be court-martialed in murder case

[unhappycamper]

Corporal to be court-martialed in murder case
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 8, 2008 13:56:02 EDT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A senior commander at Camp Pendleton ordered that a corporal be tried at a general court-martial on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty in the 2004 shooting death of an unknown detainee in Fallujah, Marine officials said Friday.

Cpl. Ryan G. Weemer, 25, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he’s convicted on the murder charge.

Weemer, through his attorneys, has denied the charges, which stem from actions he and two members of his squad took inside a house Nov. 9, 2004, in the open days of the Battle of Fallujah.

In charges approved by Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command and I Marine Expeditionary Force, military prosecutors allege Weemer “willfully failed” to follow military rules of engagement during Operation Phantom Fury and failed to follow rules on the handling and safeguarding of detainees and enemy prisoners of war.

Helland “made his decision after consideration of information developed from investigations by Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigators, as well as evidence produced during an Article 32 investigation hearing,” officials said in a statement announcing the charges.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/08/marine_weemercase_080808w/