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The War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings,
Torture and Big Money |
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May 30th,
2007 - Jury Will Not Hear of Short Sentences in Hamdania Case |
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Jury Will Not Hear of Short
Sentences in Hamdania Case By Teri Figueroa North County Times May 30, 2007 1:44 PM PDT Camp Pendleton - Jurors will
not learn about the short jail sentences handed to codefendants of a Camp
Pendleton Marine corporal accused of a plot that led to the kidnapping and
killing of an Iraqi man last year, a judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling from the military
judge, Lt.Col. Eugene Robinson, was one of a few blows delivered to the
defense in the case of Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, who is set to go to
court-martial on June 11. The central California
native is one of eight Camp Pendleton troops accused of snatching retired
Iraqi police officer Hashim Ibrahim Awad from his home in Hamdania on April
26, 2006, then marching him a mile or so down the road, where he was shot to
death. Magincalda has pleaded not
guilty, as has codefendant Cpl. Trent Thomas. A third co-defendant, Sgt. Lawrence
Hutchins, has not yet entered a plea. Five of the troops have
pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the matter; all were sentenced to jail
or prison time ranging from as short as a year to as long as eight years in
exchange for pleading guilty and testifying against the other men accused in
Awad's death. Robinson's ruling is the
opposite ruling made by the judge overseeing the case of one of Magincalda's
codefendants, Cpl. Trent Thomas. In the Thomas case, the military jury will
be allowed to hear about the short sentences given to the five men who
pleaded guilty. Robinson's rulings, which
came at the start of what is scheduled to be a three-day pretrial hearing for
Magincalda, included the rejection of a request from the defense that the
jury know the minimum sentence faced Magincalda is life in prison if he is
convicted of premeditated murder. Robinson also denied
Magincalda's defense team a second visit to Hamdania to conduct their own
investigation. "The defense has failed
to establish that there is a reasonable likelihood that a second visit would
benefit them," Robinson said. Members of his defense team
went to Iraq in January, but security concerns hamstrung them from spending
much time in Hamdania. Also hampering their investigation at the time was the
refusal of Awad's family members and other witnesses to speak with them or to
travel to the United States to testify. In denying the second visit
to Iraq, Robinson also said the situation in the rural village of Hamdania has
"deteriorated significantly" in the 13 months since Awad's slaying,
and that the area is now "considered to be hostile territory." Magincalda's hearing is
continuing today, but portions of it are closed because the discussion
centers on admissibility of classified information. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/30/news/top_stories/1_01_454_29_07.txt |