Judge releases Marine who refused to testify

[unhappycamper]

Judge releases Marine who refused to testify
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 30, 2008 7:03:43 EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Eight days after a federal judge ordered him jailed for defying a court order, Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson will walk out of a federal detention center Thursday.

U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson agreed to release Nelson after the 26-year-old sergeant told the court he will appear before a federal grand jury in Riverside, Calif., that is looking into allegations of murder during combat operations in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. His attorney expected the Marine to be released in the afternoon.

One week ago, on May 21, Nelson held his ground in court as the judge implored him to adhere to the order. But three times, Nelson refused, and the judge told him he’d be held in contempt of court and confined until he changed his mind.

Wearing a green shirt, olive pants and metal shackles on his hands and legs, Nelson held his ground in the downtown courthouse on Thursday — even as Anderson forewarned him of the standing order to talk to the grand jury.

“If you persist in refusing to answer questions before the grand jury in the face of a valid order,” the judge said from the bench, “you may be confined for the duration of the grand jury ... or until you answer.”


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/05/marine_released_052908w/