The US military on Wednesday charged seven Marines and a Navy medic with
premeditated murder and other crimes in the April 26 killing of an Iraqi
civilian in a village west of Baghdad, the US Marine Corps said.
All eight men face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted. All
were charged with premeditated murder, larceny, conspiracy, housebreaking,
assault, kidnapping and obstruction of justice, while five also were charged
with making false official statements.
US Marine keeps watch
during a search for weapons caches outside the village of Abu Tiban, Iraq,
February 5, 2006. The military on Wednesday charged seven Marines and a
Navy corpsman with premeditated murder and other crimes in the April 26
killing of an Iraqi civilian in a village west of Baghdad, the US Marine
Corps said on Wednesday. [Reuters] |
"The Marine Corps takes allegations of wrongdoing by its members very
seriously and is committed to thoroughly investigating such allegations. The
Marine Corps also prides itself on holding its members accountable for their
actions," Col. Stewart Navarre told reporters at Camp Pendleton, California,
where the men are jailed.
The incident took place in the town of Hamdania in central Iraq and is a
separate case from the November 19 killing of 24 civilians in Haditha in which
other Marines are suspected.
Military investigators examined whether the servicemen fatally took a
52-year-old disabled Iraqi man, identified as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, from his
home, shot him in the face, then planted an AK-47 assault rifle and a shovel
next to his body to make it appear he was an insurgent placing a roadside bomb.
Those charged were: Marines Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, Cpl. Trent Thomas, Lance
Cpl. Tyler Jackson, Pfc. John Jodka, Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate, Lance Cpl. Robert
Pennington, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, and Navy Hospitalman Third Class Melson
Bacos.
There have been a number of cases of misconduct by US troops in Iraq,
although military leaders maintain the vast majority of American troops have
conducted themselves honorably.
The eight men have been held in pretrial confinement at the Camp Pendleton
brig since May 24. Their next step is a hearing to determine whether their cases
go to court-martial, which would be held at Camp Pendleton.
Defense lawyers have asserted that investigators extracted incriminating
statements by using inappropriate interrogation methods.
Another Murder Case
In another case, the military said a fourth Army soldier, Spc. Juston Graber,
had been charged with premeditated murder in connection with the shooting deaths
of three detainees in Iraq on May 9. The military said on Monday three other
soldiers were charged in the same killings and with threatening to kill a fellow
soldier if he told authorities the truth about the case.
All four soldiers also face a possible death penalty.
Joseph Casas, a lawyer representing Jodka, said his client was innocent and
that military investigators used inappropriate methods to obtain statements from
the troops.
Casas said the statements were not "confessions" and that he would seek to
have them suppressed at trial.
"I can tell you with regard to my client, he was subjected to at least three
interrogations, one of which lasted about eight hours without any food, water,
restroom breaks, you name it," Casas said.
Defense lawyers also questioned how the military could charge the troops with
premeditation, saying the troops were on a mission and the Iraqi's death came
amid combat.
"It's preposterous to suggest that eight Marines got together to plan a
murder," said David Brahms, representing Pennington.
The military held the eight suspects in "maximum" custody for three weeks,
officials at the base said. They were restrained with handcuffs attached to a
leather belt and leg cuffs any time they left their cells. Authorities slightly
loosened the conditions last week to enable them to have no such restraints
while inside jail, the base said.
The Washington Post has reported the slain man was known in his village as
"Hashim the Lame" because he had a metal bar surgically inserted into one leg
several years ago.
