Marine pleads guilty to assault in death of Iraqi civilian

Camp Pendleton, Calif. ? A Marine pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in the case of an Iraqi civilian who other servicemen said was kidnapped and killed by members of the squad.

Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, 23, entered those pleas and others through his attorney Thomas Watt at a military court hearing.

Jackson pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, larceny, housebreaking and another charge of conspiracy.

Jackson was the third serviceman to plead guilty to reduced charges in return for his testimony in the case, in which seven Camp Pendleton-based Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged with murdering 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

Jackson, who has been in military prison since May, spoke only to confirm his identity and attorneys’ names and say he understood his rights.

The sentencing guidelines for the counts Jackson pleaded guilty to were not immediately clear.

Last month, Pfc. John Jodka III pleaded guilty to assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in the incident.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, far right, is escorted into his court-martial hearing by an unidentified woman, to his right, civilian defense counsel Tom Watt, far left, and military defense counsel Capt. Cindie Blair, second from left, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Jackson pleaded guilty Monday to charges relating to the killing of an Iraqi man in April.

The first to make a deal was Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, a Navy corpsman on patrol with the Marines. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy.

Members of the squad abducted Awad after their plot to kidnap and kill a known insurgent failed, according to testimony from Bacos and Jodka. The victim was a former policeman and father of 11.

Awad was shot after being dragged to a hole several hundred yards from his house, Bacos and Jodka said. A shovel and AK-47 were placed near the body to make it appear Awad was an insurgent planting a roadside bomb, both defendants said.

Both Jodka and Bacos singled out their squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins, as hatching a plan to kidnap an insurgent. Hutchins’ attorney, Rich Brannon, has said he did not believe Hutchins did anything wrong.

Jackson joined the Marines in March 2005 and was on his first combat tour.

Developments

  • Iraq’s appeals court is expected to rule on Saddam’s guilty verdict and death sentence by the middle of January, the chief prosecutor said, setting in motion a possible execution by mid-February. If the ruling is upheld, Iraq’s three-man presidential council is pledged to allow Saddam’s hanging to take place. The execution must be carried out within 30 days of the appeals court’s decision.
  • Relentless sectarian killing continued despite extraordinary security precautions. Fifty-nine bodies were discovered Sunday and Monday across Iraq, police officials said.
  • The U.S. military announced the deaths of five more American troops, two in a helicopter crash north of Baghdad and three in fighting west of the capital. The deaths raised to 18 the number of U.S. forces killed in the first six days of November.
  • There were indications U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad was preparing to leave his post as soon as the end of the year and be replaced by Ryan Crocker, a senior career diplomat who is now ambassador to Pakistan.
  • Flash floods caused by heavy rain killed 18 people and injured 20 in northern Iraq. The heavy rains began late Sunday in the Khalifan district in the Irbil province.
  • An American facing a death sentence in Iraq turned to the U.S. Supreme Court in a late effort to keep the military from handing him over to Iraqi authorities. Papers asked the court to allow Mohammad Munaf to remain in military custody until U.S. courts resolve whether U.S. forces can turn over Americans who are suspected terrorists to the Iraqi government.