CAMP PENDLETON -- Military jurors in the upcoming court-martial of a corporal accused of murdering an Iraqi civilian will not be told during trial that the Marine faces a minimum sentence of life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder, a military judge ruled Thursday.

But Lt. Col. David M. Jones ruled that the jury can hear details of the plea deals made by the co-defendants of Cpl. Trent Thomas, who is set to stand court-martial for the April 26, 2006, slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a retired Iraqi policeman from the village of Hamdania.

Thomas' attorneys argued in court that the jury should know that most of the men accused in Awad's slaying got light sentences in return for pleading guilty and agreeing to testify against Thomas and two other Marines.

"I believe that this is crucial and essential to the defense," Jones said of letting the jury hear about the sentences handed to other men accused in the case.

Prosecutors say eight Camp Pendleton troops assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment dragged Awad out of his home and shot him, then tried to stage the scene by framing him as an insurgent planting a bomb.

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and related offenses in the death of Awad. He also is charged with assault for the alleged beating of another Iraqi in Hamdania on April 10, 2006.

Five of the men from Thomas' squad reached plea agreements with prosecutors in the Awad incident, and are now serving jail terms ranging from 12 months to eight years.

During Thomas' two-hour hearing in a Camp Pendleton courtroom on Thursday, Jones revealed that the 25-year-old corporal was evaluated last week -- at his attorneys' request -- to determine his mental capacity or mental responsibility as it relates to the case. Jones said the results of that evaluation are not in yet.

Jones also made a number of other rulings, including a decision to let jurors to hear about a statement Thomas made to investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service when he was questioned about Awad's death.

"I have no doubt that statement was given voluntarily and his rights were read," Jones said.

Jones also granted Thomas' request that one-third of the jury be made up of enlisted Marines.

Thomas is set to be back in court next week, so Jones can hear arguments on a number of pretrial issues, including Thomas' request that his attorneys be allowed to go to Hamdania to investigate.

Jones' rulings came as part of the first court hearing in Thomas' case since a military appellate court put a hold on proceedings earlier this year, in order to give Thomas' attorneys a chance to appeal a pretrial ruling.

The higher court denied that appeal and lifted the stay at the end of April, greenlighting the case to move forward.

Jones agreed Thursday to push the trial back a few weeks. Thomas' trial will now begin no earlier than July 9, although the exact trial date has not been set.

Thomas pleaded guilty on Jan. 18 to unpremeditated murder and all the other charges against him, but was allowed to withdraw those pleas in February after what one of his attorneys said was an "epiphany."

When he withdrew the pleas and demanded that his case go to trial, Thomas told the court he was doing so because he believes he was carrying out an order issued by his squad sergeant, and therefore is not guilty of any crime.

The sergeant, Lawrence Hutchins III, and Cpl. Marshall Magincalda are the remaining defendants in the case.

Government prosecutor Lt. Col. John Baker argued that Thomas' jury doesn't need to know about the sentences given to the five who pleaded guilty. Giving them that information, he argued, may "plant the seeds" that could lead a jury to acquit Thomas of murder charges.

Defense attorney Maj. Dale Saran argued to Jones that sharing the terms of the plea deals will show the jury "the hammer hanging over (the) head" of each of the five troops who have pleaded guilty.

"The motive for lying is the deal, what they got in return" for copping a plea and agreeing to testify, Saran said.

Saran said that Thomas will not get a fair trial "if we are not allowed to show the extraordinary motive they have for coming in here and giving what we believe is less than honest testimony."

"There's nothing wrong with the (jury) members hearing that stuff and seeing it for what it is," Saran said.

Even though Jones rejected the prosecution's request that he prevent jurors from hearing about the plea deal sentences, he sided with the prosecution in ruling that the jurors -- or panel members as they are called in military courts -- cannot hear during the trial that Thomas faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder.

Prosecutor Capt. Nicholas Gannon argued in court that telling the jury about the punishment for premeditated murder would be "an attempt to build sympathy" in Thomas' fight for an acquittal.

"Cpl. Thomas is a combat vet, an appealing young man charged with a horrific crime," Gannon said. "There' s a lot of appealing things about Cpl. Thomas that Marines could embrace.

"The one single issue before the members is guilt or innocence," Gannon later added. "The sentencing ramifications are not relevant."

Military Court of Justice and the Case of Sgt. Hutchins