Free Republic

CAMP PENDLETON -- A Marine pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of assault and obstruction of justice in the death of an Iraqi civilian last April. Pfc. John J. Jodka III, 20, entered the pleas through his lawyer Joseph Casas after telling the judge at his court-martial that he understood his rights. He was one of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman initially charged with murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, assault and housebreaking in the killing of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the Iraqi town of Hamdania. Jodka — the squad's youngest and lowest-ranked member — was among five Marines who shot at...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. Marines will be tried on murder charges without the possibility of the death penalty in the April shooting of an Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania in central Iraq, the military said on Monday. Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the top Marine general in the Middle East, decided that Pfc. John Jodka, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda and Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate will face courts-martial in the shooting death on April 26 of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, the Marines said in a statement from Camp Pendleton, California. The three were among seven Marines and a Navy medic accused...