Former US Marine cleared of manslaughter in California

Nazario was alleged to have shot dead two of the captives himself before ordering two subordinates to kill the others.

However the prosecution’s case was weakened after the two other Marines implicated in the killings — Jermaine Nelson and Ryan Weemer — refused to testify against Nazario last week and were declared in contempt of court.

Nazario’s wife let out a scream of joy on Thursday as each not guilty verdict against her husband was returned, forcing judge Stephen Larson to pound his gavel and call for order.

Afterwards Nazario, who lost his job as a police officer after being charged, said he was relieved his ordeal was over.

“Justice was definitely without a doubt served here today,” he told reporters in a statement.

“It’s been a long and very hard road for my family. I would want the same justice for every Marine, soldier and sailor that has served or is serving in harm’s way today.”

Nazario’s defense lawyer Kevin McDermott, a former servicemen, said the case should never have been brought before a civilian court.

“We need to keep the law out of the command decisions and never second guess them,” McDermott said.

That last quote is right on the money. We let illegal aliens kill some 9,000 American citizens every year, but second-guess a soldier even breathing wrong. Disgusting.

A comment on Michelle Malkin’s blog sums it up perfectly:

On August 28th, 2008 at 9:29 pm, jdubya said:

This should be tattooed on Murtha’s forehead, in reverse so he can read it everyday when he looks in the mirror.

Boooyah!

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