Retrial in Marine training mishap begins

By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer

Defense alleges Marines used simulated interrogation as punishment for training mistake

SAN DIEGO -- The attorney for a former Marine who suffered a career-ending injury after he was bound, gagged and shot at close range with blank ammunition during a training exercise -- a simulated prisoner interrogation -- told a jury his client "lives in pain every single day."

But the attorney representing the company behind the training called the young man a malingerer who was overstating his injury and the level of suffering he faces. The trial began with opening arguments Tuesday.

Former Marine Pfc. Jesse Klingler is suing Stu Segall Productions, Inc., which runs a motion picture and TV studio in San Diego, as well as another Stu Segall company known as Strategic Operations, Inc., which creates realistic training scenarios on Stu Segall Productions' lot.


The suit also targets the actor, Ali Mohammad "Rocky" Mohsen, who played the role of the enemy interrogator. Mohsen pressed an AK-47 to Klingler's upper knee and shot him with blank ammunition during the military training in Miramar on Sept. 18, 2004.

Segall defense attorney Mike Neil pointed the finger at the Marines who, in an impromptu move, forced Klingler to act as a war prisoner as punishment for a critical mistake the young man made during the training.

Klingler, 21, alleges the production companies and their employees were negligent in several areas and inflicted emotional distress on him. His attorney, Bob Gaglione, said the injury dashed Klingler's plans to be a career Marine, then move into law enforcement.

The training exercises were designed to prepare the Marines for situations they might encounter in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Neil said the prisoner interrogation of Klingler was "not in the script." Rather, he said, it was an impromptu punishment dreamed up by Klingler's superiors -- punishment for a critical mistake Klingler made during the training. Neil said Klingler committed "a cardinal sin" when he left his gun behind as he chased an enemy fighter during the training.

It was the Marines who bound and gagged Klingler and asked the actor Mohsen to "interrogate" him, Neil said. As Mohsen was roughing up Klingler, he pressed the gun to Klingler's leg and fired, both attorneys said.

Defense attorney Neil said his client accepts responsibility for negligence regarding the unsafe manner in which the actor fired his weapon.

But Neil told the jury the court battle is over the severity of Klingler's injury and the amount of compensation he is seeking -- a money demand Neil called "astounding," given that at least one doctor called the injury a "superficial" wound.

During his opening statement, Gaglione told the jury that the loss of livelihood and medical expenses Klingler will face over his lifetime could well exceed $1 million.

Klingler had two surgeries within hours and days of the shooting. Gaglione showed the jury photos of Klingler's leg, which has a large divot above his knee -- the result of doctors slicing out a chunk of muscle tissue.

But Neil said surveillance tapes of Klingler in the years following the injury show the young man spryly running up the stairs of his apartment building and also changing a car tire.

A year after the shooting, Klingler accepted his medical discharge from the Marine Corps. He moved back to his native Tennessee, and is attending Middle Tennessee State University.

Neil said Klingler did not fight his discharge because "he really just didn't want to stay in the Marine Corps."

Neil himself is a Vietnam veteran and retired U.S. Marine Corps Reserves brigadier general who served as commanding general of Camp Pendleton during the Persian Gulf War.

As Neil spoke to the jury, Klingler, who still wears his hair in a high-and-tight military cut, quietly sighed and shook his head. Later, during a break in the proceedings, Klingler's eyes were red and moist.

This is the second go-round for the trial. A different jury was hearing the case last month when the wildfires forced the courts to shut down for a week. In the aftermath, Judge John Meyer declared a mistrial.

-- Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.

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