Free Republic

California's Joe Shumate, who left an indelible mark on the politics of the Golden State and spun his magic around the globe as consultant to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, has died at the age of 69. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, and we'll be hearing and writing much more on this in days to come from friends and associates. Shumate, the former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Pete Wilson, was advising the GOP campaigns of U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and also Attorney General candidate Steve Cooley.

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...

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...

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - Eager to see the world and looking for adventure, Jerry E. Shumate Jr. joined the Marine Corps straight out of high school. Now the 21-year-old lance corporal is in the brig. Shumate is accused, with eight others, of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man in Hamdania, west of Baghdad. His preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin Tuesday. Shumate, along with six other Marines and a Navy Corpsman are accused of entering 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad's house on April 26, kidnapping him and taking him to a roadside hole. There, prosecutors say, several troops shot him. Shumate fired...

CAMP PENDLETON The Marine Corps has postponed a hearing for a Marine charged with kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi civilian. The Article 32 hearing for Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate was rescheduled for Sept. 12 after the defense requested a delay, said his military attorney Capt. Patrick Callahan. It had initially been scheduled for Aug. 28. Shumate, along with six other Marines and a sailor, was charged with the April 26 kidnap and murder of a 52-year-old man in the rural Iraqi town of Hamdania. The men were being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton. Earlier this month, Shumate of...

Military prosecutors want to start hearings as soon as this Wednesday to determine whether to move forward with charges of premeditated murder against two local Marines, five others and a Navy corpsman. But several of the attorneys told media last week that they didn't expect the hearings to take place that soon because they haven't received all of the government's evidence and will need time to review the information. Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, confirmed the so-called Article 32 hearings, the equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, are tentatively slated for next week. “It will be good...