A 22-year-old soldier accused of carrying out a brutal plot to murder Afghan civilians faces a court-martial Wednesday in a case that involves some of the most serious criminal allegations to arise from the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Spc. Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit assault and battery, and one count of illegal drug use in exchange for a maximum sentence of 24 years, said Geoffrey Nathan, one of his lawyers.

His client is one of five soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s 5th Stryker Brigade charged in the killings of three unarmed Afghan men in Kandahar province in January, February and May 2010. Morlock is the first of the five men to be court-martialed — which Nathan characterized as an advantage.

“The first up gets the best deal,” he said by phone Tuesday, noting that even under the maximum sentence, Morlock would serve no more than eight years before becoming eligible for parole.

According to a copy of the plea agreement, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Morlock has agreed to testify against his co-defendants. In his plea deal, Morlock said he and others slaughtered the three civilians knowing that they were unarmed and posed no legitimate threat.

He also described taking a lead role in the January incident — lobbing a grenade at the civilian while another soldier shot at him, and then lying about it to his squad leader.

The court-martial comes days after a German news organization, Der Spiegel, published three graphic photos showing Morlock and other soldiers posing with dead Afghans. One image features Morlock grinning as he lifts the head of a corpse by its hair.

Army officials had sought to strictly limit access to the photographs due to their sensitive nature. A spokesman for the magazine declined to say how it had obtained the pictures, citing the need to protect its sources.

Morlock told investigators the murder plot was led by Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of Billings, Mont., who is also charged in the case; Gibbs maintains the reasons behind the killings were legitimate.

Nathan said Morlock’s mother, hockey coach and pastor are among the witnesses who might testify on his behalf in court. He indicated the defense would argue that a lack of leadership in the unit contributed to the killings.

“He’s really a good kid. This is just a bad war at a bad time in our country’s history,” Nathan said. “There was a lack of supervision, a lack of command control, the environment was terrible. In his mind, he had no choice.”

After the January killing, platoon member Spc. Adam Winfield, of Cape Coral, Fla., sent Facebook messages to his parents saying that his fellow soldiers had murdered a civilian and were planning to kill more. Winfield said his colleagues warned him not to tell anyone.

Winfield’s father alerted a staff sergeant at Lewis-McChord, which is south of Seattle, but no action was taken until May, when a witness in a drug investigation in the unit also reported the deaths.

Winfield is accused of participating in the final murder. He admitted in a videotaped interview that he took part and said he feared the others might kill him if he didn’t.

Also charged in the murders are Pvt. 1st Class Andrew Holmes of Boise, Idaho, and Spc. Michael Wagnon II of Las Vegas.

Seven other soldiers in the platoon are charged with lesser crimes, including assaulting the witness in the drug investigation, drug use, firing on unarmed farmers and stabbing a corpse.

San Francisco lawmakers have unanimously voted to appoint a veteran city government official as the city’s first Asian-American mayor.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday named 58-year-old City Administrator Edwin Lee to fill the remainder of Gavin Newsom’s term. Newsom was elected California’s lieutenant governor in November and took office on Monday.

Lee was sworn in immediately following the board’s vote. He will serve as interim mayor until next January, when the winner of this November’s mayoral election will take over. Lee says he doesn’t plan to run.

San Francisco’s population of 815,000 is roughly one-third Asian. With Lee’s appointment, the city is now the largest in the country with an Asian-American leader.

A California consumer-advocacy group has launched an ad on a Times Square video screen aimed at rallying the left before the November elections and labeling the tea party movement as “insane.”

The 30-second spot by Consumer Watchdog flashes phrases such as “home foreclosures” and “Wall Street greed” across a 520-square-foot screen as flames burn in the background.

It asks viewers, “Are you mad as hell but think the tea party is insane?”

Jamie Court, president of the Santa Monica-based group, says the nonprofit wants to provide voters with an alternative to the tea party and help channel their frustration in productive ways.

Calls and e-mails to a leading national tea party figure in California were not immediately returned.

Consumer Watchdog is best known for its lawsuits against the insurance industry.

A document fished out of a California state university trash bin last week has prompted a state investigation into the university’s foundation arm and its refusal to disclose details related to Sarah Palin’s upcoming speech at the school.

On Tuesday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said his office would look into the finances of the California State University, Stanislaus Foundation, as well as allegations that the nonprofit organization violated public disclosure laws by keeping details of Palin’s contract secret.

The flare-up over Sarah Palin’s scheduled speech on a California State University campus has taken a twist after students discovered a portion of her confidential contract.

The document found in a campus Dumpster does not include her compensation for the June 25 speech to the CSU Stanislaus Foundation.

It does specify other requirements to be provided by the foundation, including round-trip, first-class airfare for two, a suite and two rooms at a deluxe hotel and transportation via SUVs or black town cars.

It also requires that Palin’s lectern be stocked with water bottles and bendable straws.

The students say they acted on a tip that documents were being shredded inside the main administration building last Friday, a day that campus staff was supposed to be on furlough.

A state lawmaker is asking a California State University foundation how much it will pay Sarah Palin to appear at a black-tie event in June.

Sen. Leland Yee requested details of the contract Monday between the nonprofit California State University Stanislaus Foundation and the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate. Palin will be the guest of honor at the CSU Stanislaus 50th anniversary gala on June 25.

Palin has charged some groups $100,000 for speaking fees.

Foundation board president Matt Swanson says Palin’s contract prevents him from disclosing the details of her compensation.

Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco, says such a stipulation might violate the California Public Records Act.