More plea agreements may be near in Iraqi civilian killing case

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:14 PM PST ∞

NORTH COUNTY -- As reports continue to circulate that more plea agreements are near for some of the remaining Marine Corps defendants charged in the kidnapping and slaying of a retired Iraqi policeman last year, two of the men are scheduled to appear in court this week.

This morning, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda is due in a Camp Pendleton courtroom where prosecutors and his defense attorneys are expected to discuss some of the issues leading up to his Feb. 1 trial.

On Thursday, Cpl. Trent D. Thomas is slated to be in court so that his attorneys and prosecutors can resolve unspecified issues in advance of his March 12 trial date.

Magincalda and Thomas are two of the four remaining Camp Pendleton Marines still facing trial in connection with the April 26 kidnapping and shooting death of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, Iraq. Also awaiting trial are the squad leader of the men charged with the killing, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, and Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington.

Three other Marines and a Navy corpsman pleaded guilty last fall to offenses related to the Awad killing in exchange for prosecutors dropping the more serious kidnapping and murder charges. Those men are serving jail terms ranging from 12 to 21 months.

Defense attorneys reached Tuesday were refusing comment on reports that two or possibly three of the remaining defendants had reached or were considering plea agreements in the case.

The Kilo Company squad from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment was charged in June with the Awad killing and all of the men have been in the brig since being returned from Iraq in May.

According to statements from those who have pleaded guilty, Awad was taken from his home after the squad failed to find its initial target, a man described as a known insurgent.

Awad was bound and gagged and marched to a makeshift hole dug by the roadside where he was then shot repeatedly. The squad then placed a shovel and stolen AK 47 assault rifle next to his body and reported to their superiors that he was an insurgent who had fired at them and was then killed, the men who have pleaded guilty have said.

The Hamdania homicide is separate from allegations that four Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine division committed murder and negligent homicide in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005.

Besides those four men who were charged with the Haditha killings in December, four officers face dereliction of duties and related charges for the way in which that incident was initially investigated.

-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.