Sergeant Jose Luis Nazario Jr. (born 1979) is the first American to be tried in a civilian court for war crimes which were allegedly committed while he was on active duty.
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Nazario was charged, under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, with voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence for his role in the death of four unarmed Iraqis.
The incident became known publicly when one of Nazario's subordinates, Sergeant Ryan Weemer applied for a job with the United States Secret Service.
Nazario's trial was held in his home town, Riverside, California, where he was formerly a police officer,[1] with US District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson presiding.
De Atley noted that the court papers did not include evidence Nazario had beaten vulnerable members of the public for kicks.
[24] According to De Atley in a passage in the wiretap transcripts that had been deemed inadmissible at his manslaughter trial, but had been admissible at his civil suit, Nazario described "how to respond directly if asked he had murdered anyone."