CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine lance corporal asserts he killed an Iraqi soldier last New Year's Eve because he feared for his life after the two became embroiled in a struggle involving a cigarette and cell phone.

The Marine Corps alleges that the killing was not self-defense, but a case of rage-driven murder that could result in Lance Cpl. Delano "Del" Holmes facing a life prison sentence if convicted.

On Monday, a 10-member military jury will gather in a Camp Pendleton courtroom to hear the case and decide which version of the events is best supported by the evidence.

"It all revolves around whether Delano was justified in using deadly force," Holmes' lead attorney, Steve Cook of Irvine, said this week. "Delano felt that once they were wrestling on the ground he believed the Iraqi was reaching for an AK-47."

Holmes and Iraqi army Pvt. Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin were on guard duty at Camp Fallujah in the Anbar province in the early morning hours of Dec. 31 when the fight broke out.

Holmes told investigators the two grappled after Hassin refused to put out a cigarette and stop using an illuminated cell phone, Cook said. The fight took place in a 6-foot-by-6-foot guard station several feet above the ground.

A 22-year-old machine gunner from Indianapolis, Holmes contends the light from the cigarette and cell phone put the two in danger from snipers and that his repeated efforts to have the Iraqi put out the smoke and close the cell phone went unheeded.

The post had been fired on previously from apartment buildings and a mosque within sight of the guard station, Cook said.

Holmes was unable to reach his own gun. Instead, the defense and prosecution agree, he reached for a bayonet strapped to his flak jacket and stabbed the Iraqi soldier multiple times.

When the fighting stopped, Holmes called for a medic and reported the incident, his attorneys say.

Prosecutors, who by Marine Corps' policy will not speak about pending court cases, now contend that Holmes overreacted and stabbed the Iraqi at least 17 times.

An autopsy conducted on the man's body at Dover Air Force base in Delaware showed he had more than three dozen wounds. Holmes' attorneys contend that the man's body was in the custody of the Iraqi army before being returned to U.S. authorities and that the source of all the wounds is unclear.

Earlier this year, a hearing officer recommended Holmes be tried for what the military calls "unpremeditated murder" and filing a false statement. Unpremeditated murder is the equivalent to second-degree murder in the civilian justice system.

The latter charge alleges Holmes lied when he told investigators the Iraqi had managed to fire his AK-47. Prosecutors say it was Holmes who actually fired the weapon to support his story of what happened.

Sorting out the conflicting versions, testimony from what could be as many as 50 witnesses and the forensic evidence will be a jury composed of 10 of Holmes' fellow Marines. The panel, which includes one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, three staff sergeants, a master sergeant and a gunnery sergeant, will hear the case over the next two weeks.

Efforts to resolve the case short of trial, with Holmes pleading guilty to a lesser offense, failed because prosecutors insisted that Holmes acknowledge wrongdoing. His attorneys would not disclose the specifics of that deal.

Marine Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks will preside over the trial. The first order of business will be deciding several motions, including whether the jury will see graphic pre- and post-autopsy photos of the Iraqi and whether it will hear about the number of stab wounds.

Holmes has been held in the Camp Pendleton brig since being ordered back to the U.S. in February. He was initially held in a solitary cell under maximum security restrictions that were later lifted, allowing him to mix with the general population.

Efforts by his attorneys to have Holmes released pending trial failed.

"He's anxious to get his case in front of the jury," Cook said, adding the defense has not decided if Holmes will testify.

The trial is expected to last up to 10 days.

Holmes is the second U.S. troop to be charged with killing an Iraqi soldier since the Iraqi army was re-established in late 2003. In May 2004, Army Pvt. Federico Daniel Merida killed an Iraqi soldier by shooting him 11 times after the two had sex. Merida was later sentenced to 25 years in prison and given a dishonorable discharge.

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