An attorney for a Marine charged with murdering an unarmed detainee in Fallujah, Iraq, has told military jurors that his client acted in self-defense during pitched battle.
Paul Hackett said during his closing argument Wednesday at Camp Pendleton, Calif., that Sgt. Ryan Weemer and other Marines were trying to seize a house from insurgents. He recounted testimony of Weemer's squadmates that portrayed a chaotic scene.
Hackett told jurors to be skeptical of an interview that Weemer gave to a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigator in which he described shooting the detainee in November 2004. He called the interrogation very confusing.
Weemer, of Hindsboro, Ill., is also charged with dereliction of duty.
