thedrifter
06-29-06, 02:24 PM
Paying their way
Phil Hayworth
Tracy Press
Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson of Tracy, six other U.S. Marines and one Navy Corpsman were made to pay their own way back to Camp Pendleton from Iraq before they were jailed for allegedly murdering an Iraqi civilian, relatives of local Marines said.
Terri Jackson believes her son had anywhere from $1,600 to $1,800 deducted from his account to pay travel costs from Iraq.
“It’s appalling,” Jackson said. “They didn’t want to come home. They were ordered to come home.”
Leanne Magincalda, mother of Manteca native and murder defendant Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, said her son believes money was deducted from his account and that it has happened to the other men charged in the April 26 killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, Iraq.
Authorities at Camp Pendleton could not be reached to confirm if the men paid for their own travel.
Authorities say the Marines were looking for an insurgent when Awad was kidnapped from his home and shot. The Marines allegedly planted an AK-47 rifle and shovel on the man and told investigators he was an insurgent planting a bomb.
But the men’s relatives have adamantly denied the charges. Defense attorneys have suggested that the charges were filed because Awad’s family, who was paid $2,000 for the death, wanted money.
Terri Jackson has been staying with relatives in San Diego near Camp Pendleton where she has visited her son nearly every weekend since hearing of his incarceration for murder May 23.
“I get two hours with him Saturdays, Sundays and holidays,” she said.
Military prosecutors could move forward July 10 with charges of premeditated murder against the group some have dubbed the “Pendleton 8.” But Jackson said her son spoke with his lawyer, Thomas Watt, for the first time Tuesday.
“He seems very happy with him,” she said in a telephone interview from San Diego.
Jackson’s family has set up a Web site, www.fightingfortyler.com, with information about how donations can be made.
Several of the servicemen’s 17 defense attorneys said last week the evidence against their clients is questionable.
The troops all signed incriminating statements, said Jane Siegel, a former Marine Corps colonel, prosecutor and judge, who is defending Pfc. John Jodka III. She wants the statements thrown out.
“When you put two Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents in a room with a little 19-year-old kid and threaten him with the death penalty and call him a (expletive) liar for 2½ hours and only give him water after he has signed the statement that’s been typed by an NCIS agent, I think that’s coercive,” Siegel told The Associated Press.
Charges were levied against Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, 25; Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, 24; Hospitalman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, 20; Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., 20; Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, 21; Jodka, 20; Magincalda, 22; and Jackson, 22.
The charges also include kidnapping, conspiracy, assault, larceny, housebreaking, making false statements and obstruction of justice.
Gary D. Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor, told the AP that the chances of getting all eight statements thrown out “are so remote it’s hard for me to conceive of it.”
In a case with eight defendants and at least 17 defense lawyers, Solis said it is more likely one of the troops will cooperate with prosecutors in return for the charges being dropped or the penalty reduced.
Among that evidence is a preliminary autopsy conducted by military pathologists at Dover Air Force Base, Del. It confirmed Awad died of multiple gunshot wounds. Victor Kelley, who represents Cpl. Thomas, said he would file a request that the defense be allowed to hire its own experts to examine the body.
Ellie
Phil Hayworth
Tracy Press
Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson of Tracy, six other U.S. Marines and one Navy Corpsman were made to pay their own way back to Camp Pendleton from Iraq before they were jailed for allegedly murdering an Iraqi civilian, relatives of local Marines said.
Terri Jackson believes her son had anywhere from $1,600 to $1,800 deducted from his account to pay travel costs from Iraq.
“It’s appalling,” Jackson said. “They didn’t want to come home. They were ordered to come home.”
Leanne Magincalda, mother of Manteca native and murder defendant Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, said her son believes money was deducted from his account and that it has happened to the other men charged in the April 26 killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, Iraq.
Authorities at Camp Pendleton could not be reached to confirm if the men paid for their own travel.
Authorities say the Marines were looking for an insurgent when Awad was kidnapped from his home and shot. The Marines allegedly planted an AK-47 rifle and shovel on the man and told investigators he was an insurgent planting a bomb.
But the men’s relatives have adamantly denied the charges. Defense attorneys have suggested that the charges were filed because Awad’s family, who was paid $2,000 for the death, wanted money.
Terri Jackson has been staying with relatives in San Diego near Camp Pendleton where she has visited her son nearly every weekend since hearing of his incarceration for murder May 23.
“I get two hours with him Saturdays, Sundays and holidays,” she said.
Military prosecutors could move forward July 10 with charges of premeditated murder against the group some have dubbed the “Pendleton 8.” But Jackson said her son spoke with his lawyer, Thomas Watt, for the first time Tuesday.
“He seems very happy with him,” she said in a telephone interview from San Diego.
Jackson’s family has set up a Web site, www.fightingfortyler.com, with information about how donations can be made.
Several of the servicemen’s 17 defense attorneys said last week the evidence against their clients is questionable.
The troops all signed incriminating statements, said Jane Siegel, a former Marine Corps colonel, prosecutor and judge, who is defending Pfc. John Jodka III. She wants the statements thrown out.
“When you put two Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents in a room with a little 19-year-old kid and threaten him with the death penalty and call him a (expletive) liar for 2½ hours and only give him water after he has signed the statement that’s been typed by an NCIS agent, I think that’s coercive,” Siegel told The Associated Press.
Charges were levied against Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, 25; Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, 24; Hospitalman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, 20; Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., 20; Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, 21; Jodka, 20; Magincalda, 22; and Jackson, 22.
The charges also include kidnapping, conspiracy, assault, larceny, housebreaking, making false statements and obstruction of justice.
Gary D. Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor, told the AP that the chances of getting all eight statements thrown out “are so remote it’s hard for me to conceive of it.”
In a case with eight defendants and at least 17 defense lawyers, Solis said it is more likely one of the troops will cooperate with prosecutors in return for the charges being dropped or the penalty reduced.
Among that evidence is a preliminary autopsy conducted by military pathologists at Dover Air Force Base, Del. It confirmed Awad died of multiple gunshot wounds. Victor Kelley, who represents Cpl. Thomas, said he would file a request that the defense be allowed to hire its own experts to examine the body.
Ellie