The trial of the former commander at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base will resume Monday.
It’s for John Nettleton, who’s accused of obstructing justice and concealing facts into the death of 42-year-old Christopher Tur, a Marine Corps veteran who worked as a civilian on base.
Defense lawyers will likely call witnesses in federal court for Nettleton after prosecutors spent much of last week laying out their case.
Some of the critical testimony came from Christopher Tur’s wife, who admitted she had an affair with Nettleton and was unaware the two men fought at her home prior to Tur’s disappearance.
Nettleton was charged because he was commanding officer on base at the time and is accused of obstructing investigators’ search for Tur, whose body was eventually found in the harbor a day-and-a-half after the two men fought.
Rod Sullivan is an attorney not affiliated with this case, but he has been following it and thinks the makeup of the jury could affect this case.
“I’m not sure I would have chosen a jury to sit with 11 women on it in this particular case,” Sullivan said. “It’s dangerous when you make an assumption that somebody based on their sex or age or race or any other factor is going to vote a certain way or not. And you have prosecution and defense thinking jury with 11 women and one man is going to be a good jury for both sides. One side is clearly wrong.”
Sullivan suspects Nettleton will take the stand in his own defense, but Nettleton has yet to say if that will happen.