CAMP PENDLETON -- A military judge this morning rejected a second trip to Iraq for attorneys for a Marine sergeant accused of masterminding the abducting and shooting death of an Iraqi man last year.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks ruled that attorneys for 22-year-old Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III had failed to demonstrate that the trip would help their client's case and that nothing in military law required the Marine Corps to provide the trip.

Meeks also said that because U.S. forces are no longer actively patrolling the area around where the killing took place in the village of Hamdania northwest of Baghdad that the trip was simply impractical.

"Nothing entitles the defense to use of a military force," Meeks declared, adding such a visit would occur in a region now declared hostile and likely be fruitless. "There's been nothing has been shown to this court that would show any material information can be found in Hamdania."

Two of Hutchins attorneys visited the area in January with security provided by a Marine escort but had only 45 minutes to see where the Iraqi, Hashim Ibrahim Awad, was killed. The short visit also did not allow the attorneys to interview any potential witnesses.

Meeks also formalized an earlier preliminary ruling allow prosecutors to introduce incriminating statements made by Hutchins to investigators in Iraq shortly after the April 26 slaying of Awad.

Hutchins is now slated to go on trial on July 16. A two-day motions hearing is set for June 11-12, during which he is expected to enter a formal plea to the murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and other offenses he faces.

Hutchins also is accused of assaulting three Iraqis in a separate incident.

He and seven other men he led from a Camp Pendleton 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment squad were charged with the killing. Five of his co-defendants have pleaded guilty in negotiated agreements with prosecutors and received jail terms ranging from 12 months to years.

See Tuesday's North County Times for a complete report on today's hearing.

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