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Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins twice freed on appeal for Hamdaniya killingA Camp Pendleton Marine freed on appeal after serving more than six years for the murder of an unarmed man in Hamdaniya, Iraq, during the height of the war will be retried in a military court. Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III will be arraigned Wednesday at Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Forces Central Command said Monday. During a subsequent court martial, whose date has not been set, Hutchins will face charges of murder, obstruction of justice, making false official statements and conspiracy to commit larceny. During a subsequent court martial, whose date has...

The execution of an Iraqi man by Camp Pendleton servicemen began as fantasy fueled by a low-budget movie, combat frustrations and the idea of bumping off bad guys for the greater good, an officer testified yesterday. The fantasy ended with seven Marines and a Navy corpsman snatching a grandfather from his bed, then pumping bullets into him on the outskirts of Hamdaniya, Iraq, in April 2006. Yesterday, 2nd Lt. Nathan Phan said he, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III and other Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment talked regularly about killing local Iraqi crime figures, who often are...

Like twins, the Haditha and Hamdaniya cases are often mistaken for each other. Both involve Camp Pendleton infantry units, both have made international headlines and both are playing out on the base. Camp Pendleton officials are expected to announce the Haditha charges tomorrow, and they have scheduled several Hamdaniya trials for next year. Furthering the similarities, both cases center on allegations of murder. In one incident, eight members of the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment are charged with abducting and shooting to death an Iraqi man in April in the town of Hamdaniya. In the other incident, some...

CAMP PENDLETON, California (AP) - A Marine charged with kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man last spring assaulted another man in a separate incident because he made "disparaging remarks" about Marines while in Abu Ghraib prison, a military prosecutor said. The comment was the first public glimpse into an alleged April 10 incident uncovered during the probe into the death of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26. Six other Marines have been charged in the murder case. Dressed in a short-sleeved khaki service uniform, Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. deferred making a plea Friday to the six charges...

During two tours of duty in Iraq, Navy corpsman Melson J. Bacos said, he experienced fire fights with insurgents, soldiers dying in his arms, thoughts of whether he'd live another day. Now he has another unnerving assignment. On Friday, the 21-year-old is scheduled to give testimony that military prosecutors hope will help them convict seven Marines accused of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania. Bacos, a medic who patrolled with the Marines, will have similar charges dropped in exchange for testimony during his court-martial, his attorney, Jeremiah Sullivan III, told The Associated Press. The military...

SAN DIEGO An investigating officer has recommended a court martial for a Marine accused of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi civilian, the troop's attorney said Wednesday. The officer reviewed evidence from a preliminary hearing Aug. 30 and recommended this week that there was probable cause for Pfc. John J. Jodka III to stand trial, according to one of Jodka's attorneys, Joseph Casas. Seven Marines and one Navy corpsman are accused of kidnapping 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad, taking him to a roadside hole and shooting him to death April 26 in Hamdania, west of Baghdad. The recommendation followed an Article 32...

Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. CAMP PENDLETON ---- A trio of Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents testified Tuesday morning about how they went about interrogating a Marine lance corporal and other members of a Camp Pendleton platoon accused of killing an Iraqi man earlier this year. The pretrial hearing for Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. lasted a little more than an hour but did not reveal much of the substance of the prosecution's case against the seven Marines and Navy corpsman from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. The troops are accused of killing 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The government will not seek the death penalty for a Marine Corps corporal who is among eight troops charged with murder and other crimes in the shooting of a civilian Iraqi man, a military prosecutor told a hearing officer Tuesday. Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., 21, is accused in the killing of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad last April in Hamdania, west of Baghdad. Shumate is suspected of firing his M-16 at Awad, then lying to investigators about what had happened, according to charging documents. Military prosecutor Lt. Col. John Baker's recommendation against a possible death...

The mother of a Marine corporal charged with the murder of an Iraqi along with seven other servicemen says Navy prosecutors are trying to frame the "Pendleton 8" – denying them access to evidence, attempting to coerce confessions and treating them more harshly than terrorist prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Leanne Magincalda, mother of Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, blamed leaks by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., for creating a climate of witch-hunt hysteria surrounding the case, leading to isolation and harassment of the incarcerated soldiers. She told WND the parents of the eight have seen most of the evidence against their sons, and...

NORTH COUNTY -- A pretrial hearing starting Tuesday for one of eight Camp Pendleton troops charged with murdering an Iraqi is expected to feature two days of testimony, a defense attorney said Wednesday. The Article 32 hearing for Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. will focus on his alleged role in the April 26 killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the Iraqi village of Hamdania. Shumate's attorney, Steven Immel, said he did not plan to take the same route that attorneys for two other accused troops did last week when they agreed to let hearing officers consider written reports only...

Alleged confessions appear to form the crux of the government's case against seven Marines and a Navy corpsman charged with murder, kidnapping and other crimes in an Iraqi man's slaying last April. Defense attorneys challenge the validity of the statements and say without them the government's case is baseless. Details about the prosecution's case emerged Wednesday during preliminary hearings for two of eight men accused in the shooting death of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the village of Hamdania. At Marine Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda's hearing, prosecutors submitted a thick packet of evidence and pointed to three documents they say...

The opening pair of hearings into charges that Camp Pendleton troops executed an Iraqi man produced a united defense, tantalizing evidence and a surprise announcement yesterday. The unexpected development involved Marine Pfc. John Jodka III, 20, of Encinitas. Near the close of Jodka's hearing, prosecutor Lt. Col. John Baker said the government would not seek the death penalty against him. “It's our position that a capital referral is inappropriate,” Baker said during the session, which was held on the base. “When we heard that, I looked over at Jodka and could tell a huge weight was taken off his shoulders,”...

SAN DIEGO – Hashim Ibrahim Awad was shot to death in a hole by a dusty road west of Baghdad. How the 52-year-old Iraqi came to be there is the focus of an inquiry with possible life and death consequences for seven Marines and a Navy corpsman. Pretrial hearings for the eight soldiers charged with Awad's murder are set to start Wednesday, four months after his death. It will be the first time the facts have been explored in public. Prosecutors claim the troops went into the rural Iraqi town of Hamdania, took Awad from his home, tied him up,...

The first hearing for Camp Pendleton service members charged with killing an Iraqi man could do more than suggest individual guilt or innocence. It also could tarnish the image of the Marine Corps and focus attention on an increasingly unpopular war. Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman from the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment are accused of killing an unarmed civilian on April 26 in Hamdaniya, then trying to cover it up. The defendants have been confined in Camp Pendleton's brig since early May and could face the death penalty if convicted on charges such as kidnapping, assault...

CAMP PENDLETON -- The Marine Corps announced late Tuesday afternoon that it will not waive pretrial hearings requested by four of eight Camp Pendleton troops accused of kidnapping and murder in the death of an Iraqi man. Maj. Jeff Nyhart said the decision was made by the commander of U.S. Marine Forces and issued the following prepared statement. "In order to make a fair and impartial decision on the disposition of these cases, the commander ... wants the impartial analysis of the charges and evidence afforded by an Article 32 investigation," the statement said. Last week, civilian attorneys for four...

The military justice system is largely unknown to the American public. Other than an occasional, and usually inaccurate, depiction of a court-martial or other military proceeding on a TV show or movie, most people do not have an understanding of or appreciation for the military justice system. This is not surprising, since relatively few Americans have contact with the military, let alone the military justice system. By any measure, the military justice system compares very favorably to any civilian justice system. The cornerstone of the military justice system is the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Congressionally enacted after World War...

NEW YORK - U.S. Marines involved in the killings last fall in Haditha of two dozen Iraqis, most if not all of them civilians, appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, The New York Times reported. Pages from an official company logbook of the unit involved in the deaths were missing, and an incriminating video taken by an aerial drone was not given to investigators until a top commander asked for it, two Defense Department officials told the newspaper. The Times posted the story on its Web site Thursday night. The Pentagon officials said a report about the Haditha killings...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- At least three of the eight Camp Pendleton men accused of kidnapping and killing an Iraqi man are asking the Marine Corps to take their cases straight to military trials and skip the pretrial hearings that would determine if courts-martial would be necessary. Calling an upcoming pretrial hearing a "meaningless exercise" and a "rubber stamp," attorney Joseph Casas said he told Marine Corps officials that his client, 20-year-old Pfc. John Jodka of Encinitas, will waive the pretrial hearing known as an Article 32 in favor of heading right to trial. That also is the plan for Cpl....

A Marine officer was charged Wednesday with assaulting three civilians in the Iraqi town of Hamdania last spring. The Marine Corps said that 2nd Lt. Nathan P. Phan beat the three men so severely on April 10 they could have died. He is accused of choking two victims and putting a loaded M9 service pistol into the mouth of one of the men. Phan, 26, also is charged with making a false official statement. Defense attorney David Sheldon said Phan denies the charges. "We stand by the fact that these charges are baseless and have no merit," Sheldon said. "Lt....

HADITHA, Iraq – A young Marine wonders if his superiors will support him if he shoots at perceived threats. An officer worries that civilians look at his Marines with more suspicion. The proud colonel acknowledges that his Corps has lost stature in the public's eyes. Allegations that Marines deliberately killed 24 civilians – including women and children – last November in this rebellious city have prompted reactions ranging from shame and anger to disbelief within the Marine Corps. In this intensely proud service, some say they're being prematurely judged. Others grasp for plausible explanations behind the alleged slaughter. A Pentagon...