CAMP PENDLETON -- An Encinitas Marine private held in the base brig since May 24 is demanding the government file charges in the alleged slaying of an Iraqi man or release him, according to a request filed by his attorney on Monday.

Attorney Joseph Casas said in his request that the Uniform Code of Military Justice requires the government take immediate steps to charge and try Pfc. John Jodka or release him all together.

Jodka, six fellow Marines and a Navy corpsman from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment's Kilo Company have been in the brig since May 24 as authorities investigate allegations they kidnapped and executed 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad al-Zobaie in the town of Hamdania on April 26.

The probe by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service into the circumstances of the man's death continues and no one has been charged with any crime.

"As time goes by and the longer it takes the government to make a decision to file charges or not there is increasing possibility that evidence can be lost and that witnesses in Iraq will have fuzzy memories," Casas said. "For us, it's like playing chess while blindfolded."

Casas filed his request with Marine Lt. Col. Sean M. Sullivan, whom Casas said has been his point of contact at Camp Pendleton. There is no proscribed length of time for the Marine Corps to answer the request, Casas said.

Base spokesman Lt. Lawton King said in a written statement Monday evening that Sullivan is a prosecutor on the base but would not confirm whether Sullivan had any part in the Hamdania investigation. He added that there have been no charges on which to act.

Casas cited speedy trial provisions in the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Uniform Code of Military Justice in his letter to Sullivan. Under the Military Code of Justice rules, the government has 120 days from the point Jodka, 20, was first detained to decide whether to file criminal charges.

Casas acknowledged the request is part of his overall legal strategy since the 120 days for the government to make a decision won't run out until late September.

Jodka and the others were initially detained at Camp Fallujah on May 10, returned to Pendleton on May 23 and have been behind bars since May 24.

Casas visited with Jodka on Monday morning and said the young Marine continues to be confident he will walk out of the brig a free man.

"From Day 1 this kid has been 100 percent confident that this will all ultimately go his way," Casas said, adding a decision by Pendleton authorities last week to stop requiring the men to be shackled when outside their cells has lifted their spirits.

As he has from the beginning, Jodka maintains that he and the rest of his squad were doing what was asked of them the night of April 26, Casas said.

"As far as my client is concerned, he believes they were acting on a legitimate, command-sanctioned patrol that night and that they were following the rules of engagement that they were schooled in by commanders," he said.

Jodka was an automatic weapons gunner during the patrol.

The body of the Iraqi man was exhumed two weeks ago and taken to Dover Air Force Base for an autopsy and forensic examination, the results of which have not been disclosed.

"We still don't know whether any autopsy was ever done to begin with," Casas said. "When it was taken to Dover, what was the condition of the body after so many days in the desert? We haven't been able to get those answers."

While the Naval Criminal Investigative Service refuses to comment, Casas said the agency has returned to Hamdania to re-interview witnesses who have said the victim was taken from his home and shot. Witnesses have said the man then had an AK-47 assault rifle and shovel planted next to his body to make it appear he was planting a roadside bomb.

The Hamdania case is separate from allegations that Camp Pendleton Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment killed 24 unarmed civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha on Nov. 24. No one has been confined or charged in that case, which also is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which investigates military charges.

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