Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, 22, of Tracy, is tentatively set to appear for his Article 32 hearing Aug. 14.According to a letter sent to defense lawyers by Lt. Col. John Baker, a senior trial counselor, Jackson, along with Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III and Pfc. John Jodka, have the same hearing date, but it could be pushed back to September. While some are relieved there’s forward movement, Terri Jackson, Tyler’s mother, said she thinks the military should take its time.Aug. 12 at Clyde Bland Park near Byron Road and Interstate 205. There will be hot dogs, balloons and sack races — and everything is free, but friends ask that attendees donate. Rummage-sale fundraisers on the weekends of Aug. 19 and 26 will be followed by spaghetti feed.
“I don’t want the trial rushed,” Terri Jackson said from a relative’s home in San Diego. For example, she said that the defense lawyers still don’t have all the evidence the military might have against the men and the case, a process called “discovery.”
Jackson, along with Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, 23, of Manteca, five other Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman, are charged with murder, kidnapping and other counts in connection with the April 26 slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, an Iraqi town west of Baghdad.
The infantrymen attached to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment are also accused of stealing an AK-47 rifle and a shovel and planting them near the body to make it appear that the victim was setting a roadside bomb.
Terri Jackson said the recent military decision to disallow the civilian defense attorneys to travel to Iraq could hamper her son’s defense.“What irritates me with this is that we should have all the evidence before the Article 32 hearings, not at some later date,” she said. Defense attorney Joseph Casas contended the Marines are rushing the schedule to make it seem as though the defense is dragging its feet.
Casas also said an autopsy report and a military investigation report given to the defense are incomplete and that money to pay for an independent investigator and translator in the case has been denied by the military.
Magincalda’s hearing has been tentatively set for Aug. 7, along with Cpl. Trent Thomas, Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington and Navy corpsman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, according to the letter. But those hearings could be pushed back to the week of Aug. 23.
Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate Jr. has tentative hearing date of Aug. 1. All eight men have been held in the brig at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. The Article 32 hearings will determine whether charges against the defendants will stand and lead to general courts-martial. The men are facing a possible death penalty.
Meanwhile, friends of Jackson will host a fundraising event to help pay for legal costs. A Day at the Park is scheduled from for
• To contact reporter Phil Hayworth, call 830-4221 or e-mail phayworth@tracypress.com.
How long dose an audtopsy take?
Why is evidentence not being turned over?
Why is the defense team not allowed to go to Hamdania?
What is the rush to artcle 32 hearing when defense is not ready?
I have an idea, Lets give Tyler and the other Marines a fair chance.
In the artcle it mentions that our in the park fundraiser is near Byron Rd. in Tracy. That is not true, It is on lowell. Just go all the way down West Lowell and its the park at the very end.
Brian
