Marine won't testify against squad leader

LOS ANGELES, May 23 (UPI) -- Arraignment was postponed for a U.S. Marine charged with killing a prisoner in Iraq in 2004 after he was jailed on a contempt of court charge.

Sgt. Jermaine Nelson was scheduled to appear in court Thursday at Camp Pendleton, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. But he was held in contempt Wednesday for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury considering charges against a former Marine Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario Jr.

Nazario, Nelson's squad leader during the battle of Fallujah, has been charged with lesser offenses involving the death of a detainee, but the grand jury is considering indicting him for murder.

Joseph Low, one of Nelson's lawyers, said that Nelson refused to testify in spite of being granted immunity because Nazario had saved his life several times.

Low told the Marine Corps Times Nelson was adamant during a hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. At one point, he said, Nelson knelt on the courtroom floor, praying and crying.

"He said, 'I'm never going to change my mind,'" Low said.