CAMP PENDLETON ---- A gaunt young Marine accused of helping kidnap and murder an Iraqi civilian last year wants his case decided by a jury trial with enlisted men making up at least one-third of the panel.

Lance Cpl. Marshall Magincalda made the jury request Wednesday during a pretrial hearing in his court-martial for his role in the April death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a retired Iraqi police officer; prosecutors say he was taken from his home in the middle of night, bound and gagged and shot to death.

Magincalda, 23, told the judge presiding over his case, Marine Col. Steven Folsom, that he wanted to exercise his right to have the jury of service members who will hear his case include some of his peers.

Defense attorneys representing Magincalda also made it clear during the hearing that they will introduce evidence during the trial that Magincalda has battled post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of three deployments to Iraq.

Magincalda is charged with murder, kidnapping, assault and related offenses in the case and faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted of the murder charge and given the maximum sentence.

This morning, one of Magincalda's co-defendants, Cpl. Trent Thomas, is expected to plead guilty during his court-martial for offenses related to his role in the slaying. Thomas' plea would be the fifth among the seven Kilo Company platoon Marines and their U.S. Naval corpsman attached to Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment who have struck plea agreements with military prosecutors.

There does not appear to be any plea agreement in the works for Magincalda, whose attorneys have consistently said that their client will go to trial.

Wednesday's brief court hearing also featured some sparring between the defense and prosecution over a questionnaire that prospective jurors will fill out.

Magincalda's defense team wants to delve deeply into the backgrounds of prospective panel members and include questions about such topics as their favorite books, TV shows, political persuasion and club affiliations.

After prosecutors argued that more than 20 of the questions the defense wants to ask are irrelevant to the case, Folsom said he would design a questionnaire based on what each side wants to ask.

Magincalda also entered a formal plea of not guilty during the hearing, a step taken because he had previously reserved his right to enter a formal plea until a later date.

When he and his squad mates were charged in connection with the Awad killing in June, prosecutors alleged that Magincalda's role in the incident included seizing the victim from his home and helping stage the killing scene that took place next to a road in Hamdania, Iraq.

Magincalda's trial had been set to begin Feb. 1, but has been moved to April 18, nearly one year from the date Awad was killed.

Besides Magincalda and Thomas, the other men still facing trial are Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington and Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III. Hutchins was the squad leader whom the four who have pleaded guilty said directed the plan that led to Awad's killing.