Marine Corps officer charged with assaulting Iraqi civilians

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.

"We stand by the fact that these charges are baseless and have no merit," Sheldon said. "Lt. Phan is proud of his Marine Corps service and looks forward to continuing to serve honorably."

The alleged assaults were uncovered when the Naval Criminal Investigative Service probed a separate incident in Hamdania, a rural town northwest of Baghdad. In that incident on April 26, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman allegedly kidnapped and murdered a 52-year-old Iraqi man. Those eight troops are in the brig at Camp Pendleton.

Additionally, three of the Marines charged in the April 26 incident and three other enlisted Marines are charged in the April 10 assaults. A total of 12 troops have now been charged in connection with either or both incidents.

The service members are from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines Regiment, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton. All belonged to Kilo Company's 2nd Platoon, which was lead by Phan, who is the highest ranking among those charged.

One of the Marines charged with kidnap and murder on Wednesday waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Attorneys for Pfc. John Jodka III said their client declined an upcoming Article 32 hearing because the event was to be a "rubber stamp" to a court-martial.

At an Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a grand jury proceeding, a commanding officer determines whether there is probable cause to bring a defendant to trial.

Attorneys Joseph Casas and Jane Siegel also said the government had denied several requests for evidence they say would have helped their client at a hearing. The attorneys argued that Jodka would save thousands of dollars in legal fees by going straight to trial, and that the only way to get the evidence they need is by filing a motion before a judge at a trial.

"If there is nothing to be gained, then there is no reason to have a 32," Siegel said. "The government has made it very clear they don't intend to move off their butts and grant any of our requests until this goes to trial."

Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said prosecutors had provided the defense with all available evidence that they are allowed to see at this point.

Prosecutors claim that Jodka was one of the eight troops who went into Hamdania, took a man from his home, tied him up, put him in a hole and shot him without provocation on April 26.

Hoping to make the man look like an insurgent planting explosives, the troops then placed an AK-47 assault rifle in his hands and placed a shovel in the hole, investigators said.

Casas said he believed additional Marines had been charged with assault so the government could persuade them to testify against the men in the brig in the hope of securing a murder conviction.

"Let's face it, the big fish in this pond are the Pendleton eight and they are trying to get to them by getting some little fish as bait," Casas said.

Jodka's Article 32 was supposed to have been on Sept. 25. Hearings for the other Marines and sailor are set for Sept. 12, Sept. 25 and Oct. 18.

Help the 'Pendleton 8' and their families.

Charity for the Pendleton 8. Click here. Mailing address available only now, paypal within the week.

Ongoing Coverage: Hamdania
FRom the North County Times

The 'Pendleton 8': A look at the 7 Marines and Navy corpsman charged in Hamdania incident
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1670877/posts

VIDEO-Camp Pendleton demonstration for Marines
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1655852/posts

Marine families wait and worry; (Frustrations, anger expressed by relatives of Pendleton 8)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1671948/posts

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Attorney: Col. visited ‘Pendleton 8’ before announcing charges
Navy Times article - 07/28/06

Accused troops' supporters busy fundraising - Hamdaniya / 'Pendleton 8' defense funds ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1654104/posts

Dozens rally at Camp Pendleton gates(24 June 2006) ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1655341/posts

Military justice under spotlight in Hamdania case - 'Pendleton 8' - 7 Marines, 1 Navy Corpsman ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1655333/posts

Lawyers for Marines, medic plan counterattack in Iraq murder case - Hamdaniya - 'Pendleton 8' ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656712/posts

FREE REPUBLIC EXCLUSIVE: DIRECT INFORMATION ON THE 7 MARINES AND SAILOR HELD FOR MURDER
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1659084/posts

Defending the accused: Many attorneys in Hamdania case practiced law .. in military - 'Pendleton 8'
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1659351/posts

Letter reportedly from accused servicemen expresses thanks(Camp Pendleton 8)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1660140/posts

Delay is likely for (Camp)Pendleton(8) hearings
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1668925/posts

Attorneys for accused troops say Marine Corps hampering defenses
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1669976/posts

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Some of the familes and supporters of the 7 Hamdaniya Marines & a Navy Corpsman, now charged with multiple criminal offenses, have setup web sites for use in accepting donations for legal defense funds or sending notes of encouragement and support to the detainees and their families.

Cpl. Robert Pennington
http://www.defendrob.com

PFC John Jodka
http://www.innocentmarine.com

Tyler Jackson
http://www.fightingfortyler.com

Cpl. Marshall Magincalda
http://www.defendourmarine.com

Cpl. Trent Thomas
http://www.defensefundformyhero.com

Lance Cpl Jerry Shumate
http://friendsofjerry.blogspot.com/

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Melson J. Bacos
http://patriotdefensefund.com/

Other sites supporting the men:

http://www.defendthetruth.com

http://www.warrior-fund.org

If your financial situation permits, please help as you can to cover legal representation costs.

Thanks!

I'm glad I'm not a recruiter any longer.
-----
For sure. As a Vet of the Nam era, I can attest to the horrible negative impact this crap will have on the effectiveness of our fighting forces. Afraid to respond, they will be dead, or otherwise face a criminal trial driven by the MSM and the other military-hating socialist cowards in this country.

Here's your uniform, boots, weapon, ammo, string to tie one arm behind your back, a 10-inch thick manual on the rules of engagement in PC combat, and a business card of a good defense attorney.

Now go defend your country! But... don't kill, hurt, or insult anyone while doing so...

I agree - as a former non-combat Marine officer (1968-70) - I am tired of the (demanded by socially invented law) situation we are placing our military combatants in. Put your ass on the line in country and then be subject to second guessing by some "upper" or attorney in the states. Give up your life if the enemy is hiding behind civilians - bull shit. I told my 20 year old son that he should wait until the enemy is on our shores and we can be assured that the ACLU and the "unbelievers" will be appreciative of our efforts.

War is not a legal litigation venue for civilians.
Better to allow the USA DOD to purge themselves, IAW the UCMJ.
Better than that, would be the unit NCOIC's just summarily shooting egregious violators of the UCMJ in the field.
The wartime USA DOD is not bound by civilian USA "law".
Nobody has been drafted and forced against their will to serve in the USA DOD.

Your point is dead on right for me, a stateside Army officer (active duty 1968-1969). If Rumsfield had stayed up all night for three consecutive weeks thinking of ways to hamstring military recruiting and combat effectiveness, he couldn't have come up with anything more effective than this horrible series of so-called war crimes prosecutions of our soldiers and Marines. If I had a son who was thinking about joining I'd quite possibly advise him not to because of the terrible legal risks he'd be taking in addition to the physical risks, which our PC rules of engagement have also greatly increased .

May I direct you to DoD Gen-11B.
A link to which can be found at:
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc-ethx.htm

Or you can "google" the directive.

I expect our soldiers to fight IAW our DOD directives.
I don't expect them to do stupid civilian tricks, and I don't expect them to be held accountable to civilian "norms" , when they are held to another standard separate and distinct from the laws governing civilian conduct.

I think I made my position clear in my previous post.

I offered no opinion as to the specific topic of this thread, because no information currently available to the general public should be construed as anything other than useless propaganda driven data.

OTOH, you have already convicted and "forgiven" these men for mere allegations of crimes that have not been proven.

I say "Bullshit" right back at you.

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