On July 11 I posted a press release by Joseph Casas (along with a little editorial commentary), attorney to John Jodka, detailing the difficulty in defending a case in which they have not even been able to get experts to the alleged scene of the crime.  But just prior to this press release came another article I should have picked up on, published in the North County Times – The Californian.  We learn, among other things that:

Civilian attorneys for eight Camp Pendleton men accused of murdering an Iraqi civilian in April said Tuesday that military lawyers assigned to assist their clients have been too busy to provide much help on the cases.

The seven Marines and one Navy corpsman have hired civilian attorneys in addition to being assigned military counsel, the latter of whom are said to be bogged down with large caseloads.

“(It’s) the issue of the moment, one which prompted a scream from me this weekend,” Carlsbad-based attorney David Brahms, a retired Marine general hired to represent Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, said Tuesday. “The government proudly proclaims that they have given each of the eight (accused men) two military counsel.

“It’s a bit illusory because neither of the counsel offered to me have the time to do anything.”

Brahms said the two military defense attorneys are well-qualified and eager to assist. But one of the men, Brahms said, is a Miramar-based Marine with about 30 other cases on his plate. The other is based in Rhode Island and is in the middle of moving his family to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Jane Siegel, one of two private attorneys hired to represent Pfc. John Jodka III, an Encinitas native, said the lack of help thus far could affect their ability to defend the men against a team of what she said were top-flight military prosecutors.

“It is ridiculous to say that there is equity in counsel,” Siegel said. “There are five experienced prosecutors with nothing else to do, sitting in offices and working these cases, and we are still in the starting blocks waiting (for the assigned attorneys to be made available).”

…..

Siegel, a retired Marine colonel, said that one of the military attorneys assigned to assist in Jodka’s case is a reservist who is not slated to return to duty until Aug. 1.

No firm date for the Article 32 hearings has been set, Gibson said, adding that he was uncertain how the sessions would be sequenced. The hearings will determine if their clients will face trial.

Attorney Victor Kelley, representing Thomas, said he believed that about half of the hearings could get pushed back to September because of the defense work that remains to be done.

Siegel also said that she and her co-counsel, Joseph Casas, would like to delay the hearings until they can speak with witnesses from the men’s battalion.

Among the things we learn is that the press release by Joseph Casas was on point.  It didn’t turn to the left or the right or exaggerate in the least — it was straight and true.  Also among the things we learn is that the civilian lawyers cannot get even the most basic of help from the Marines in order to prepare the defense of the Pendleton 8, to wit, the lawyers defending the Pendleton 8 have not even been able to debrief the witnesses, and their clients are in a death penalty case.

The whole time, the Pendleton 8 are sitting in the brig while their case might be suffering irreparable prejudicial harm.  I said it in the last post … I’ll say it in this post.  I don’t know what happened in Hamdania.  But I do know one thing.  This just isn’t right.

You might notice that I am posting this in two categories: war and politics.  I will continue posting in both categories until the end of the case.  If the Pendleton 8 are found guilty and the case seems to me to have been straight and true, I will leave all posts concerning the Pendleton 8 alone.  The posts belong in both categories.  But if they are found innocent, I will go back and delete the “war” category and ensure that all posts are in only the “politics” category.  Why?  Because this whole thing will have been entirely political.