Tipsheet

Three Marines Will Face Murder Charges in Hamdania Case

Fox has a short story up:

Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general in the case, said he would not seek the death penalty.

The three were among seven Marines and one Navy corpsman charged with kidnapping and murdering 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad last April.

Eupohoric Reality has been keeping up with the Camp Pendleton Eight, and has interviewed those close to them about their time in the brig and their defense cases.

Yankee Mom has been on it, too, encouraging readers to donate to the defense cases of these young men.

And, Michelle Malkin has also followed closely.

Our friends on the Left will use the charges alone as a reason to bad-mouth the American military in general. If these men are guilty, they will be tried, found so, and punished. Until then, they are innocent Marines. There is a whole trial left to go.

Here's a later AP write-up with more details:

"(Jodka) is looking forward to getting a fair court martial and moving this forward as expeditiously as possible," Casas said. "Every day he sits in there in limbo is a day behind bars that he doesn't spend with his family."

Attorneys for Magincalda and Shumate did not immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment.

According to prosecutors, the Marines and sailor kidnapped Awad on April 26, bound his feet, dragged him from his home and shot him to death in a roadside hole. All have been held in the Camp Pendleton brig since May.

Jodka is accused of firing on Awad. Magincalda is suspected of binding Awad's feet and kidnapping him. Shumate is suspected of firing his M-16 at Awad, then lying to investigators about what had happened.

Update: You reckon Murtha can make it through a presser without calling them cold-blooded killers? One to watch.