CAMP PENDLETON - The Marine Corps on Friday announced it was refiling a murder charge against a sergeant accused of taking part in the killing of a group of insurgent detainees during a battle for the city of Fallujah in November 2004.

Sgt. Jermaine Nelson faces a possible life prison sentence if convicted.

Nelson is also charged with dereliction of duty. That charge alleges he failed to follow the rules of engagement and the laws of war regarding the handling of detained prisoners of war.

An Article 32 hearing for Nelson, who remains on active duty at Camp Pendleton, is tentatively slated to take place in January, said a Marine Corps spokesman, Lt. Col. Sean Gibson. Article 32 hearings are conducted to determine if there is sufficient evidence to order a case to court-martial.

Nelson was part of a squad led by former Marine Sgt. Jose L. Nazario Jr. that is accused of killing four captured insurgent fighters on the third day of the Fallujah fight, the largest battle of the Iraq war. Nazario was charged in U.S. District Court in Riverside in August with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He is being prosecuted in civilian court because he is no longer in the Marine Corps and was not subject to recall to service.

A month after Nazario was charged, the Marine Corps announced it was filing a murder charge against Nelson. A short time after that, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, then of Camp Pendleton, ordered the charge against Nelson withdrawn pending a review of the investigation.

Mattis has since moved to a new assignment and the review of the investigation was transferred to Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, head of the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

When Nelson was charged in September, the Marine Corps did not allege, as it does now, that he had violated several tenets of the law of war and the rules for handling insurgent detainees.

Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps attorney and a military law professor, said the service appears to be taking a very aggressive stance against Nelson.

"I know of no other case except Haditha where individuals have been charged with misconduct in the course of battle," Solis said.

The Haditha case involved the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005 and led to charges against four Marine officers and four enlisted men. Charges against two of the officers and two of the enlisted men have since been dismissed.

Nazario's attorneys contend that the Fallujah case involves 3-year-old battlefield decisions that potential juries now may be asked to rule upon.

It was not immediately clear Friday morning if Nelson has retained a civilian attorney or whether he has been assigned a Marine Corps defense attorney.

The case emerged when a former member of the Kilo Company squad from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Ryan Weemer, allegedly told the Secret Service during a job interview several months ago that he was aware of an "unlawful death."

That disclosure triggered an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, leading to the charges against Nelson and Nazario.

An affidavit from a NCIS agent released when Nazario was charged alleges the squad captured the insurgents and shot four of them inside a house in Fallujah.

Nazario's lead attorney, Kevin McDermott of Orange County, has said his client does not acknowledge such an incident ever occurred.

The battle for Fallujah commenced on Nov. 6, 2004, when troops from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st and 5th Marine regiments, along with supporting Marine units and U.S. Army forces, launched an assault to wrest control of the city from insurgents.

The city had become a flash point in the war after insurgents ambushed and killed three Blackwater Security civilian contractors, later hanging their corpses from a bridge. U.S. forces left the city shortly thereafter at the request of the Iraqi government.

Six months later, they were back to retake a city that had been overrun by insurgents. The final resistance was overcome by late December and several Camp Pendleton Marines were later honored with awards, including two Navy Cross citations for valorous actions during the fighting.

Ninety-five U.S. servicemen were killed and more than 600 were wounded. An estimated 1,350 insurgents were killed and 1,000 captured.

While the rules of engagement were loosened during the battle, the law of armed conflict governing military behavior forbids the shooting of any enemy combatant who has been disarmed and does not pose a threat.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.