Posted on 07/26/2006 4:48:56 AM PDT by RaceBannon
Innocent 8: Just When You Thought It Couldn¡¯t Get Worse After the revelation Friday that the Marine Corps would not allow these men to face their accusers (among other things), we thought it couldn¡¯t possibly go any worse than it already was. If you don¡¯t think it¡¯s bad, check out the case timeline.
It has gotten far worse.
21JUL07: Government notifies defense of: (a) additional prosecutors (LTCOL John Baker, Senior Trial Counsel; Major Don Plowman, Major Daren Erickson, and Captain Nick Gannon - in addition to LTCOL Sean Sullivan and Captain Timothy Garrison);
They¡¯ve replaced their lead prosecutor. Why? They¡¯ve added more prosecutors. Why? John Jodka Sr., father of one of the accused, asks, ¡°Was he not ¡®towing the line¡¯? Was he setting justice first and political correctness second? What does this tell us in addition to the lack of a case; cracks appearing in the prosecution team?¡±
(b) its intent to go forward with an Article 32 on 01AUG06 at 0900;
Right now, the defense has nothing it needs from the prosecution to do its job. No ballistic reports, no autopsy, no witness reports, no one to cross-examine¨Call because the procesutors refuse to turn it over to them, saying it¡¯s ¡°not complete.¡± So we are one week away from the beginning of an Article 32 hearing and there is no defense.
(c) its intent to call PFC Jodka as a witness to testify against his squad mates - and vice versa; and
What is this? First they put these men through interrogation techniques that aren¡¯t allowed at Guantanamo, they get at least two innocent men to sign false statements, and now they plan to pit them against each other when each other is all they have. This is beyond the pale, truly.
(d) that key witnesses will not return from Iraq until ¡°mid to late August 2006¡å
Do you know what this means? The defense not only isn¡¯t allowed to have the evidence, but they¡¯re not going to have any witnesses, since they¡¯ll still be deployed in Iraq and the Corps has no intention of bringing them home.
What is going on here?
Some have asked me if the Marines are setting these men up to be convicted, or if they¡¯re planning to simply hold an Article 32 in front of the world¡¯s cameras so they can save face with the Iraqis and the press, then just dismiss the charges on a technicality and let the men go with a ¡°Semper Fi¡± and no ¡°thank you for taking one for the team.¡± In fact, one person even told me that perhaps we should stand down as citizens calling for justice and ¡°let the system work¡the Marines know what they¡¯re doing.¡±
Oh really?
So they put them and their families through the media circus and shame of an Article 32 and possibly a court-martial as well, and then dismiss the charges. Does that make it right?
What about the fact that these men were denied basic rights that are afforded to all Americans? What about the fact that these men will have the accusations hanging over them for the rest of their lives¨Cno matter what happens? What about the wasted millions of dollars spent on this fiasco¨Cyour taxes, I might add? What about the smeared honor of the Marine Corps, and even the American military as a whole? Or does none of that matter? The end justifies the means? ¡°It¡¯s okay to ruin the lives of eight men and their families as long as we look good to the rest of the world, and especially our enemies?¡±
This is shameful. I am flat-out appalled, I am angry, and I will not accept this. It is unconscionable to think that this situation could occur in our country. Where are the human rights groups? Where is the ACLU? Where are the regular citizens that these men were defending? Stand up and do something!
You can start by contacting the REMFs at Camp Pendleton.
MG Natonski (CG of 1st MARDIV) Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA 92055
When you¡¯re done with him, go to this guy.
LtGen Sattler (CG MEF) Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA 92055
Let them know that our boys deserve better than to be treated worse than the animals trying to kill us. Demand that they look into this and do their duty. Demand that they take care of their Marines instead of throwing them under the bus to be crushed by the political games that everyone wants to play.
http://euphoricreality.com/2006/07/24/innocent-8-just-when-you-thought-it-couldnt-get-worse/#comment-1004
26APR06: 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, 3/5 Kilo Co. embarks on ambush patrol which results in the death of Iraqi insurgent.
11MAY06: PFC Jodka is confined in Camp Fallujah, Iraq.
17MAY06: Congressman Jack Murtha calls Haditha Marines "cold-blooded killers" and starts a snowball of negative press/confusion surrounding the Hamdaniya incident.
23-24MAY06: PFC Jodka transferred to Camp Pendleton, California Brig and placed in Maximum-In Security akin to solitary confinement, including ankle and wrist shackles - no physical contact allowed with family.
25MAY06: General Michael W. Hagee begins of visits to Marines around the globe to reinforce "Corps Values."
08JUN06: Captain Scott Joiner, USMC is appointed as PFC PFC Jodka's military defense counsel.
16JUN06: Government reduces level of confinement to "Medium-In" (no leg-irons and hand cuffs, physical contact allowed with family)
19JUN06: PFC Jodka's defense files a Demand For Speedy Trial
20JUN06: Government requests the Convening Authority to exclude from it's speedy trial clock the 12 days PFC Jodka was confined.
20JUN06: PFC Jodka's defense serves objections to government's 20JUN06 request for excludable delay.
21JUN06: Government prefers (files) charges against PFC Jodka and his squad mates.
22JUN06: PFC Jodka's defense serves 1st Discovery Request.
23JUN06: Government sets Article 32 date for 28JUN06 - a mere seven days after filing charges and without providing Defense any evidence to defend its case.
23JUN06: PFC Jodka's defense serves its request to continue the Article 32 to 01AUG06.
26JUN06: Government serves first set of discovery consisting of two data CDs including an incomplete military investigation and an incomplete autopsy report.
28JUN06: Convening Authority grants the prosecution's
20JUN06 request to exclude PFC Jodka's initial 12 days of confinement from the speedy trial clock.
29JUN06: PFC Jodka's defense serves 2nd Discovery Request based on review of government's initial evidence provided on 26JUN06.
01JUL07: PFC Jodka's defense serves requests for Iraq site visit and funding for investigator, translator, and forensic psychologist.
12JUL07: PFC Jodka's defense serves formal request for update on the status of defense's multiple requests for discovery and production of witnesses.
13JUL07: Major Louis "Dutch" Schotesmeyer, USMC is detailed as PFC Jodka's 2nd military defense counsel.
18JUL07: PFC Jodka's defense serves request for funding for forensic pathologist.
19JUL07: Government denies defense request for Iraq site visit and funding for investigator, translator on the grounds that the requests are "premature...because no charges have been referred to trial by court-martial" - Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command. (Note: actual denial is dated 14JUL07 but not delivered to defense until 19JUL07).
21JUL07: Government denies defense request for forensic psychologist on the grounds that the request is "premature...because no charges have been referred to trial by court-martial" - Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command.
21JUL07: Government notifies defense of: (a) additional prosecutors (LTCOL John Baker, Senior Trial Counsel; Major Don Plowman, Major Daren Erickson, and Captain Nick Gannon - in addition to LTCOL Sean Sullivan and Captain Timothy Garrison); (b) its intent to go forward with an Article 32 on 01AUG06 at 0900; (c) its intent to call PFC Jodka as a witness to testify against his squad mates - and vice versa (a request the defense will vehemently object to and deny); and (d) that key witnesses will not return from Iraq until "mid to late August 2006"
http://www.casaslaw.com/Hamdaniya%20Timeline.htm
New Information Bump
Attorneys: Accused troops won't testify against each other
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON -- Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman charged in the April killing of an Iraqi man are refusing to testify against one another, attorneys for one of the men said Monday.
Special Report
Jane Siegel, who represents Pfc. John Jodka III, said the military was increasingly frustrated that none would agree to testify for the prosecution.
"The government is doing its damned best to try and provoke one of these Marines to testify against the others in accordance with its theory of the case," Siegel said. "None of these men are going to do that."
Siegel's comments were made after the Marine Corps sent the attorneys a notice Friday afternoon saying that it was ready to proceed with hearings Aug. 1 to determine if the premeditated murder, conspiracy, kidnapping and related offenses will stand.
In the notice, the Marine Corps said that it intended to call each man as a witness to testify against his squad mates in the alleged premeditated kidnapping and murder of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26 in Hamdania, Iraq.
Seigel's co-counsel, Joseph Casas, said the notification of the government's intention is part of its legal strategy. Once Jodka or the other men invoke the military equivalent of their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, that opens the door for prosecutors to use hearsay statements each may have made.
"I'm not very surprised by that maneuver," said Casas, who spent time as a military prosecutor while in the Navy.
Marine Corps officials had no immediate response to the attorneys' comments.
The notice was sent in part to preserve the government's requirement to move the case along its judicial process within 120 days of the men's first being incarcerated, which was May 10, in Fallujah, Iraq. The men were transferred to Camp Pendleton later that month and have been in the base brig since May 24.
Defense attorneys are asking the military to postpone the investigative hearings until mid-September. That request was filed Monday, and the attorneys said they expect it will be granted.
The defense lawyers also complain that the Marine Corps continues to decline requests for evidence they say they need to prepare for the hearings and any subsequent courts-martial.
Casas said the denials cite the same reason ---- the requests are premature because the case has not been bound over for trial.
On Monday, Casas said the Marine Corps denied his request to bring in a crime scene reconstructionist.
Last week, the Marine Corps said that it would be premature to have an independent investigator appointed for the defense and to allow that investigator to travel to Iraq to see the site where the incident occurred.
Those denials are particularly frustrating, Casas said, because "we've got one of the largest and most serious cases that the Marine Corps has seen since Vietnam."
The military also has identified additional prosecutors assigned to the case as Lt. Col. John Baker, listed as senior trial counsel, along with Majs. Don Plowman and Daren Erickson and Capt. Nick Gannon. The Marine Corps previously named Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan and Capt. Timothy Garrison as prosecutors assigned to the case.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07/25/news/top_stories/8_04_547_24_06.txt
Thanks
bttt
| Attorney says completed autopsy provides no showing man was bound |
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| Posted by radar101 On 07/26/2006 7:28:40 AM CDT · 1 reply · 17+ views N C TIMES ^ | 26 JULY 2006 | TERI FIGUEROA A completed autopsy report for an Iraqi man alleged to have been killed by a group of Camp Pendleton troops in April lacks conclusive evidence that the man's hands and feet were bound as the government alleges, an attorney for one of the defendants said Tuesday.The lack of that finding, however, may be a result of decomposition of the body, which was exhumed for examination several weeks after the man was buried in Iraq. The autopsy report, provided to attorney Joseph Casas and other defense attorneys Tuesday, concludes that Hashim Ibrahim Awad died from a homicide, he said. Casas, who... |
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It's a disgrace that these Marines are not being treated
justly.
Requests for evidence needed to prepare for their defense continues to be denied.
FRiends....please ping your military ping lists we need to speak up for these Marines!
Excerpt:
In the notice, the Marine Corps said that it intended to call each man as a witness to testify against his squad mates in the alleged premeditated kidnapping and murder of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26 in Hamdania, Iraq.
Seigel's co-counsel, Joseph Casas, said the notification of the government's intention is part of its legal strategy. Once Jodka or the other men invoke the military equivalent of their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, that opens the door for prosecutors to use hearsay statements each may have made.
I did not know the body had been exhumed.
19JUL07 Sometime in your editing I think you jumped into 2007. All the JUL references should be JUL06, Yes?
Can it be fixed?
BTTT
Bump!
Tonk, we have another loser in the wings, Rep Delahunt from Mass, he has his own page on CAIR's website as someone they support.
His daughter is a paid agent for the Saudi government.
Delahunt refused to help one of the Pendleton 8.
More to follow.
Keep me posted
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