Posted on 06/16/2006 6:21:14 PM PDT by Tulsa Ramjet
Pentagon investigators threatened the death penalty and used other coercive techniques to obtain statements from some of the seven Marines and a Navy corpsman jailed for the shooting death of an Iraqi civilian, two defense lawyers say.
Attorney Jane Siegel, who represents Marine Pfc. John Jodka, 20, said Naval Criminal Investigative Service officials spoke to her client three times after he was taken into custody May 12. Jodka was questioned for up to eight hours at a time and was not offered water or toilet breaks, Siegel said.
"They used some really heavy-handed tactics to extract the information," Siegel said, adding that her client was not read his rights prior to questioning _ a fundamental right to which all accused troops are entitled _ and was threatened with the death penalty.
Jeremiah Sullivan III, the attorney representing the unidentified Navy medic, said his client was treated similarly.
Marine Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, a Pentagon spokesman, referred questions to Camp Pendleton, where the troops are being held. Officials there declined to comment.
Gary D. Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge advocate who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center, said investigators were within their rights to threaten a suspect with the death penalty since it is the maximum sentence for premeditated murder.
If statements are to be used in a trial, a military judge must first decide that they were given voluntarily, Solis said. If the defense can argue this was not the case then the statements could be ruled inadmissible.
"To be questioned for eight hours does not necessarily make it an inadmissible statement," Solis said. "But you have to look at the circumstances that surrounded those eight hours."
The Pentagon began investigating shortly after an Iraqi man was killed on April 26 in Hamdania, west of Baghdad. Military officials have said little publicly about the man's death, but a senior Pentagon official with direct knowledge of the investigation said evidence so far indicates troops entered the town in search of an insurgent and, failing to find him, grabbed an unarmed man from his home and shot him.
After the killing, the troops planted a shovel and an AK-47 rifle at the scene to make it appear the man was trying to plant an explosive device, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The Pentagon originally said the incident occurred in Hamandiyah but officials later acknowledged they had misidentified the town and that the incident happened in Hamdania.
The troops being held at Camp Pendleton served with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and are members of the battalion's Kilo Company. The highest-ranking among them is a staff sergeant.
More than two weeks ago, Sullivan said he expected murder and kidnapping charges would be brought soon, and a Pentagon official confirmed charges were imminent. But none has been filed and the delay has not been explained.
According to Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, charges must be filed within 120 days of servicemembers being taken into custody. Gibson put that date at May 24, which would mean charges might not be filed until September.
Siegel and Sullivan said they do not know what exactly the troops told their interrogators, and they complained that the Pentagon has not shared information about the investigation. They declined to say what they have been told about the killing.
Until Thursday the Marines and Navy corpsman were held at a maximum level of security at Camp Pendleton and were shackled whenever they left their cells. Their security level now has been reclassified to a lower level and they are allowed one hour's recreation daily without shackles, Camp Pendleton spokesman Lt. Lawton King said.
Solis said even if the Marines are charged and convicted of murder it's highly unlikely they would actually be executed. The president must approve such a penalty and that hasn't happened in nearly 200 years, he said.
"Is it safe?"
I'm trying to inject a note of caution here.
Any defense attorney for anybody who starts slipping down the path towards accusing the U.S. military of abusing prisoners of any sort tends to raise my hackles.
The song gets a bit old after about the thirtieth time I hear it.
"Any defense attorney for anybody who starts slipping down the path towards accusing the U.S. military of abusing prisoners of any sort tends to raise my hackles"
Thats a good point. I guess I'm just extremely skeptical about this whole case especially since the recent intelligence documents show planting false evidence is one of their tactics.
These guys are victims of politics IMO.
"Michael Savage is even dumber than Sean Hannity, a daunting accomplishment indeed."
GTH!
Name one other media personality talking about this .
Carrerist senior officers strike again, throwing US servicemen to the leftist wolves.
In the story The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the truth is eventually told. And just like in the fairy tale, many won't separate the messenger from the message. Remember, this is the same armed forces that puts the structural integrity of an f-ing mosque above the lives of its own soldiers.
I fail to see why his raising the issue is relevant to my comment on his sanity. Since he speaks only in self-serving aggrandizments, outrageous hyperbole and non-sensical and bloated --and usually erroneous, conclusions, Savage's screaming about it is as meaningless as his other buffonery.
The pretrial disclosures are mandatory and comprehensive, the trial procedures are restrictive on the government and the post-trial command review and appellate process examines the record much more carefully than does the civilian.
These Marines will have a scrupulously fair trial with a well trained and experienced military trial judge chosen from among seasoned Navy or Marine judge advocates from both the prosecution and defense communities. If they choose to do so, the accused can engage a civilian trial lawyer to work in conjunction with the military defense counsel.
The ''jury'' will be a panel of 5 or 7 officers who know the stresses of combat and the conduct obligations of an American fighting man. I'd rather have such a jury than the too often cretin or illiterate guy or gal on the street who was too incompetent to get out of jury duty in any American city.
These Marines are caught up in a system that will exonerate them or convict them based upon properly admitted evidence and the facts not the emotion so often present in locally notorious cases.
There is a reason for this. The official is creating a prejudice against the accused. He is clearly breaking the rules, and should be found and punished. AP should be reprimanded and hauled into court to shut them up as well. There is no "freedom of the press" in this case.
I'm sorry for being unaware what the initials in your reply indicate. Are they an acronym?
If he is correct about this being a fake story, he will be the first, and one of the few to publicly do so. And he will have performed an invaluable service to these men, and our country. Time will tell. Going the "he is stoopid like Hannity" route does nothing for the discourse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.