Doesn’t look good:

The Marine Corps on Wednesday planned to charge seven Marines and one sailor with murder in connection with the April death of an Iraqi civilian, a defense official said.

At Camp Pendleton, Calif., where the eight accused service members have been held in a military brig since late May, officials announced that a news conference would be held later Wednesday concerning the alleged killing of the Iraqi in the village of Hamdania. The announcement did not mention murder or other charges.

The official who disclosed the Marine plans asked not to be identified publicly because the official announcement was still pending.

The allegation is that Marines pulled an unarmed Iraqi man from his home on April 26 and shot him to death without provocation. Seven Marines and one Navy corpsman from the Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were taken out of Iraq and put in the brig pending the filing of any charges against them.

Jane Siegel, an attorney representing one of the accused Marines, Pfc. John Jodka, 20, said she had not yet been given a copy of the charges.”It’s just amazing and a little bit horrifying that they have decided to play this to the media before they have talked to counsel,”she said.

NYTimes coverage here.

Family websites:

Pfc. John Jodka
Marine Corps wife
Navy corpsman’s wife

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