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CA: (At least 3 of 8) Accused Hamdania Marines want to head straight to trial- Pendleton 8
North County Times ^
| 8/17/06
| Teri Figueroa
Posted on 08/17/2006 10:11:53 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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. Trent Thomas, according to his attorney, Birmingham, Ala.-based Victor Kelley, who said he wants to press the government into trial rather than put his client through a pretrial hearing.
"There's no point in dragging this out for Cpl. Thomas," Kelley said. "It just gives the government more time to try to improve an otherwise very bad case."
Also asking to waive the hearing and head right to trial is Cpl. Marshall Magincalda of Manteca, whose attorney Joseph Low said he made his request to skip the hearing earlier this week.
"The big reason is we are ready to go to trial," Low said in a phone call Wednesday afternoon.
All three attorneys said they expect their clients to be exonerated at trial.
The San Diego-based Casas pointed to frustrations with what he said are denials by the government to turn over certain evidence, and said he and co-counsel Jane Siegel have considered requesting a waiver for weeks. The two attorneys were hired by Jodka's family and are defending him along with an attorney appointed by the Marine Corps.
Casas said Jodka wants the hearing waived on the grounds that "it's a meaningless exercise because military prosecutors have refused to grant his attorneys access to important evidence that supports his claim of innocence."
"We have no choice," Casas said Wednesday morning. "The government has put us in a position where we have to go to trial. He's been confined for 77 days now. He wants to begin the process of exonerating him."
A Marine Corps spokesman confirmed that authorities had received the paperwork.
"The request has been received, but no decision has been made," said Lt. Col Sean Gibson.
The eight men charged in the case ---- seven Marines and one Navy corpsman ---- are accused of kidnapping and killing Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the Iraqi village of Hamdania on April 26.
According to the charges, the men are alleged to have taken Awad, 52, from his home. They are said to have then bound his hands and feet, placed him into a hole and shot him repeatedly, then staged the scene to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a roadside bomb.
Casas said the prosecution has repeatedly refused his requests for intelligence reports on Awad.
The attorney also pointed to a list of requests for evidence that the government has denied, including a bid to visit the alleged crime scene in Iraq.
Also deemed by prosecutors to be not germane for the hearing, Casas said, were documents on the rules of engagement, which guide troops as to when they are allowed to shoot.
"How is that not relevant?" Casas said. "They are accused of war crimes, and that that goes to rules of engagement."
The government also rejected as unimportant for the pretrial hearing Casas' and Siegel's request to interview the Iraqis who first accused the men, he said.
"We believe the Iraqi witnesses made false allegations," Casas said. "The government will not let us talk to the witnesses. This is absolutely crucial to the defense of our Marines. They deemed it irrelevant."
Walking into the hearing without such evidence, Casas said, is "like playing blind chess. But the stakes are higher."
In addition to Jodka, Thomas and Magincalda, the accused are Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, Hospitalman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, and Lance Cpls. Tyler A. Jackson, Robert B. Pennington, and Jerry Shumate Jr.
The men, all members of Kilo Company, within the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, are awaiting hearings to determine if the charges against them will move forward.
It remains to be seen what impact the waiver requests will have on the cases of the remaining defendants.
Retired Marine Gen. David Brahms, who represents Pennington, said that while he is considering all options, he is not sure if he will recommend his client make the same move.
"It gives me pause that such exceptional and thoughtful counsel have reached the decision that this is the right course of action," said Brahms. "At first blush, my sense is that this is not where I want to go."
Vista-based attorney Thomas Watt, who represents Jackson, said the move to waive the Article 32 hearings is "interesting." As to whether Jackson will follow suit, Watt said, "We consider all options, but no decision has been made."
Attorneys for the remaining defendants could not be reached for comment.
The case is separate from another incident involving a different group of Camp Pendleton Marines being investigated for the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in November. That case remains under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
On Monday, Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis assumed command of the I Marine Expeditionary Force and will be the convening authority under the military justice system for the Hamdania case. The seven Marines and Navy corpsman charged in that case are housed in the base brig and have Article 32 hearings scheduled for September and October.
Those hearings are the equivalent of a civilian court pretrial hearing to determine if criminal charges lodged against a defendant should move forward to trial.
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; US: California; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: california; haditha; hamdania; hamdaniya; marines; pendleton8; trial
To: All
2
posted on
08/17/2006 10:12:46 AM PDT
by
NormsRevenge
(Semper Fi ......Help the "Pendleton 8' and families -- http://www.freerepublic.com/~normsrevenge/)
To: NormsRevenge; RaceBannon
3
posted on
08/17/2006 10:18:38 AM PDT
by
Just A Nobody
(NEVER AGAIN..Support our Troops! www.irey.com and www.vets4Irey.com - Now more than Ever!)
To: NormsRevenge
4
posted on
08/17/2006 10:34:21 AM PDT
by
kellynla
(Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
To: NormsRevenge
This is really an odd case. Is it normal to restrict the defense from reviewing the witnesses and other pertinent evidence?
There's gotta be something we're not being told. Either that or someone in the Pentagon is out to get our soldiers.
To: Just A Nobody; NormsRevenge
The shirts look great, too!
6
posted on
08/17/2006 12:42:57 PM PDT
by
RaceBannon
(Innocent until proven guilty: The Pendleton 8)
To: RaceBannon
7
posted on
08/17/2006 1:32:54 PM PDT
by
Just A Nobody
(NEVER AGAIN..Support our Troops! www.irey.com and www.vets4Irey.com - Now more than Ever!)
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