Three Marines to face court martial
SAN DIEGO - Three Marines from Camp Pendleton will face courts-martial on murder charges in the death of an Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania, the Marine Corps said Monday.
Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general in the case, said he would not seek the death penalty.
The three were among seven Marines and one Navy corpsman charged with kidnapping and murdering 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad last April. The other five face preliminary hearings in coming weeks.
Pfc. John J. Jodka, 20, Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, 23, and Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate, 21, will also face charges including conspiracy, housebreaking and wrongfully seizing and holding a victim against his will.
The Marines Corps dropped some charges against the three, including an assault charge against Magincalda and Shumate. Jodka had charges of making a false official statement, larceny and wrongfully endeavoring to impede an investigation dropped.
Joseph Casas, an attorney for Jodka, said he was pleased.
“(Jodka) is looking forward to getting a fair court martial and moving this forward as expeditiously as possible,” Casas said. “Every day he sits in there in limbo is a day behind bars that he doesn’t spend with his family.”
Attorneys for Magincalda and Shumate did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.
According to prosecutors, the Marines and sailor kidnapped Awad on April 26, bound his feet, dragged him from his home and shot him to death in a roadside hole.
Jodka is accused of firing on Awad. Magincalda is suspected of binding Awad’s feet and kidnapping him. Shumate is suspected of firing his M-16 at Awad, then lying to investigators about what had happened.
I have a hard time buying that 8 individual people would conspire to murder one guy for no apparent reason and all stick to their stories while in isolation for months. It’s not feasible.
I’m glad they’ve dropped the death penalty - but these guys need justice. It’s time to let them get on with their lives.
h/t CalTech Girl
Previous:
- Camp Pendleton 8 Hearings Begin
- Demand Justice for the Pendleton 8
- Rally for the Camp Pendleton 8
- Civil Liberties for Terrorists but not for U.S. Soldiers
linked to: Jo’s Cafe, Mark My Words, Third World County, Dumb as an Ox, Clash of Civilizations,
September 25th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
To quote Apocalypse Now: “Charging a man for murder over here is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500″
What disgusts me is how “people” (and that term is used EXTREMELY loosely)back here are dying for the chance to make a name for themselves by prosecuting Our Soldiers.
I don’t stop by your site often enough, probably because it makes me think of how my parents felt & what it put them through while I Served my 10 years in the US Army. But, I hope that this comment finds You and your ENTIRE Family WELL and in GOOD HEALTH.
People like you make me look back at 10 years of suffering through bad food, worse weather, and seeing Friends die and say “DAMN, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. I AM PROUD TO HAVE DEFENDED THE FREEDOM OF THAT AMERICAN!”.
September 25th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Uncle Mac, thank you so much for coming by and for your very kind words. I don’t want to bring up things you don’t want to think about. Your parents undoubtedly are very proud of you. It wouldn’t be normal for a parent not to worry. But that’s what we raise our sons for - to be independant and find their own way. As much as I worry about my son, I wouldn’t have him any other way than he is.
I’m proud of you too for doing what you have done, and for what all our Soldiers do. People don’t realize what y’all do for us. You are taken much too much for granted.
September 26th, 2006 at 12:47 am
Whosoever supports George W. Bush supports Donald Rumsfeld.
Firs, see who Major General Paul Eaton is.
Now this:
WASHINGTON - Retired military officers on Monday bluntly accused Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld of bungling the war in Iraq, saying U.S. troops were sent to fight without the best equipment and that critical facts were hidden from the public.
“I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and OTHERS IN THE ADMINISTRATION did not tell the American people the truth for fear of losing support for the war in Iraq,” retired Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste told a forum conducted by Senate Democrats.
A second military leader, retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, assessed Rumsfeld as “incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically.”
September 26th, 2006 at 9:34 am
The Left has already convicted those Marines, and, being that they are military, have deemed that they will set aside their death penalty opposition in this case. Have seen threads at the DU and Huff Post to that affect.
Have to love that totally discordant comment regarding Bush/Rumsfeld. BDS strikes again!
September 26th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
This sort of stuff makes me sick. This is a military matter that does not belong in the news. How just can justice be when the courts of public opinion are to judge? I just hope the courts martial don’t let anything but the facts influence their decisions.
September 26th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Glad to see this work being done for Pendleton 8. What sickens me, in addition to the general stuff, is that we had three Republican Senators fighting for more rights for terrorists than our men in that brig have had. To my knowledge, their lawyers didn’t want to see classified info, just the “crime” scene and were not allowed. Yet, terrorists get everything including access to our criminal justice system. Thank God, we have brave men who will take up the call to arms and fight for some of these misguided elitists.
September 28th, 2006 at 6:13 am
Camp Pendleton 8…
The outrage about the treatment of our guys continues as we watch three republican senators argue about how many rights we give terrorists under the Geneva conventions when the terrorists don’t recognize them and would never sign them. Does that…
September 30th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
FYI — Prosecutions’s story is bogus. Here’s what really happened:
[B]From their ambush position, THESE MARINES caught an insurgent digging a hole by the side of the road at 3 o’clock in the morning. Pretty clear what happened next — 1 against 8.[/B]
[B]As usual in Iraq, the alleged family somehow got their hands on the Marines’ report from the incident, and created an accusation that fit the report in order to get money from the military – they had to find a way to explain why their alleged relative was out by the side of the road at 3 in the morning with a shovel and a rifle and spent shell casings in order to get the money – if he was an insurgent, they wouldn’t be paid anything.[/B]
For more info and sources, visit
[URL=http://www.innocentmarine.com/2news.html]PFC Jodka’s web site innocentmarine.com[/URL]
Questions? contact me at NCPatriot8 at aol.com
October 6th, 2006 at 11:16 am
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