CAMP PENDLETON – A Marine sergeant charged with murdering an unarmed Iraqi detained in Fallujah was instructed before invading the city that anyone taken into custody should be transferred from the front lines to holding facilities at a base, a military lawyer testified Friday.

Sgt. Ryan Weemer is among three Marines accused of breaking those rules and fatally shooting four men captured in a house after a platoon commander radioed to ask whether the Iraqis were “dead yet.” The killings allegedly occurred in 2004 during some of the fiercest ground operations of the war.

Capt. Jonathan Vaughn told a military investigating officer in telephonic testimony that Weemer and his comrades were told before the Fallujah invasion that they were to transfer anyone in custody through an established chain to a base set up at a train station outside the city.

“This was not a free-fire zone,” Vaughn testified. “We articulated the process by which the captured detainee was to be moved back from the firefight.”

The testimony was given on the second day of an Article 32 hearing, after which the investigating officer, Maj. Glen Hines, will recommend either trial or dismissal to a commanding general.

Weemer, of Hindsboro, Ill., is charged with one count of murder and six counts of dereliction of duty encompassing failure to follow the rules of engagement in Fallujah and failing to follow standard operating procedures for apprehending or treating detainees or civilian prisoners of war. He faces a life sentence in military prison and dishonorable discharge if he is convicted of murder and up to six months imprisonment for each dereliction count.

His attorney, Paul Hackett, challenged Vaughn, citing a squadmate who told investigators Weemer claimed a detainee tried to grab his weapon, prompting him to shoot in self-defense.

“The standard of hostile intent is actually a subjective standard in the eyes of Sergeant Weemer?” Hackett asked.

“On site, at the time of making that decision, the assessment rests with the individual,” Vaughn replied. “But the court can set an objective standard.”

Weemer first told the story of the November 2004 killings during an interview for a U.S. Secret Service job when an agent posed a seemingly routine question.

In a recording of the 2006 Secret Service interview played in court Thursday, the Marine said his squad argued over what to do with their prisoners after a platoon leader asked by radio whether the men were dead.

“We didn't take any prisoners. ... They didn't have weapons. They were just sitting there,” Weemer said on tape. “We argued about it, but we had to move, we had to get out, our unit's moving down the street. I did one guy and then ... I just left, went out to my team.”

A Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent testified Thursday that Weemer seemed to regret the episode when they spoke in November 2006.

“Sgt. Weemer spoke at length about fog of war,” testified investigator Mark Fox. “About how he felt he had blood on his hands.”

Hackett spent several hours fiercely cross-examining Fox, who acknowledged no physical evidence of any shooting was found when investigators returned to what is believed to be the same house in Fallujah more than two years later. The owner of the house told agents he did not find blood, bodies or bullet casings when he returned home months after the battle.

Hackett, who referred to the captives as insurgents, also asked Fox why he hadn't pursued the possibility that Weemer shot in self-defense after another member of the squad told agents that when he asked Weemer why he shot one of the Iraqis in the face, the Marine replied, “He went for the gun.”

Fox said Weemer himself never indicated in interviews he felt threatened.

Another Marine in the fire team told investigators that Weemer initially blocked his squad leader, Jose Nazario Jr., from shooting.

Nazario, 27, of Riverside, Calif., has been charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of two captives. The former sergeant is scheduled to be tried in August in federal court because he has already completed his military service.

Another Marine, 26-year-old Sgt. Jermaine Nelson of New York, is slated to be court-martialed in December on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty. Nelson told investigators that Nazario grew irate after finding weapons despite the detainees' protestations that the house was weapons-free.

Last month, Nelson and Weemer were jailed for refusing to testify against Nazario before a federal grand jury believed to be investigating the case. Both were released July 3 and returned to Camp Pendleton.