Heated testimony and tense exchanges defined the second day of cross-examination of a former Navy captain charged with obstructing justice and lying to federal investigators.
John Nettleton was removed from his post as commander of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in 2015, following the disappearance and death of Christopher Tur, a civilian contractor there.
Prosecutors say Nettleton concealed that he’d had an affair with Tur’s wife and that he and Tur had a bloody fistfight the night he went missing.
Nettleton was a steady witness in his second day of cross-examination, willing to push back on prosecutor Todd Gee’s narrative. He responded to many questions asking Gee to clarify or repeat them.
Gee walked Nettleton through each moment over two days in January 2015 where he failed to tell his bosses or investigators what happened the night Tur went missing.
Nettleton insisted he was honest, despite the fact that he did not tell anyone for days that Tur had accused him of sleeping with his wife or that he had bloodied Tur’s nose during a violent confrontation at Nettleton’s house.
“I was honest and forthright with my superior officers,” he said.
Nettleton said he didn’t tell investigators about the fight even after they found Tur’s blood at his house he was too “emotionally exhausted” after the discovery of Tur’s body floating in Guantanamo Bay, two days later.
“You can make a joke about it, but I was emotionally exhausted, I was just completely utterly wipe out,” he said.
Asked if he didn’t think it was important to tell investigators Tur left his house bleeding, injured and having lost a fight, Nettleton responded, “I don’t think anybody won – there are no winners here.”
Gee pressed him on his recollection that Tur accused him of “f*cking with” his wife rather than “f*cking” his wife, asking if making that distinction to the jury was important.
“The distinction I want to make for the jury is I’m not lying,” he said. “You can twist it however you want “
Nettleton is not charged in Tur’s death and he has pleaded not guilty to the eight counts of lying and obstruction of justice.
Nettleton’s testimony concluded just after noon and the defense rested its case. Each side has asked for 90 minutes to make closing arguments.
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