First of all there’s now a site for all of the guys with links to their individual sites.  It’s called: Defend The Truth.

The site has an update page but there really has been nothing new since the 2nd week of July.

Last information I could find is:

Hamdania lawyers: Military counterparts too busy to help

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).”

Snip……

Siegel also said the military had turned over log sheets showing Jodka was interrogated three times in Iraq, including a session May 18 that lasted seven hours.

There are no transcripts of those interviews, Siegel said, because military investigators did not use audio- or videotape to preserve the interviews.

The accused men were all detained in Iraq on May 12, and then moved to the Camp Pendleton brig, where they have been held since May 24.

In order to accommodate a large number of reporters expected to cover the hearings and any subsequent trials if ordered, Camp Pendleton is renovating an open-air facility on the base. Seats and lighting are being installed and audio and video of the proceedings will be broadcast via closed-circuit onto a large screen.

A small number of reporters will be allowed into the courtroom.

Amazing where the priorities of the Marine Corps is at…….to renovate a facility to accomodate the media for the hearing!

Camp Pendleton setting up media center 

Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said Wednesday that $460,000 is being spent to renovate the top floor of a building to house as many as 150 reporters who would cover the case via closed-circuit TV and audio beamed in from a nearby courtroom.

Another $300,000 has been allocated to set up the wireless audio and visual feed from the courtroom to the media center. The courtroom and center are adjacent to the base airfield, Gibson said.

“It’s a perfect location,” Gibson said. “It’s in a building that looks like a warehouse, and we’re taking the top floor that used to be quarters for Marines and renovating it.”

Camp Pendleton had been planning to renovate the facility, but not for a media center.

The need for one became apparent, however, when more than 100 reporters, photographers and TV camera operators descended on the base June 21 when the Marine Corps announced the men were being charged with premeditated murder.

Wow, the Marine Corps really got on the stick to make this happen for the media.  Too bad they can’t do the same to provide available military attorneys for the defense.  Oh and it would also be helpful if the military prosecutors could provide all the documents to the defense which somehow doesn’t seem to make it to the defense. 

There’s also a link to the original information for the Camp Pendleton 8 on my sidebar with all of the individual links for the sites of these guys. 

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