Federal Judge Dismisses Charges in Blackwater Shooting Case
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on January 1st, 2010 5:43 am by HL
Federal Judge Dismisses Charges in Blackwater Shooting Case
A federal judge let five Blackwater Worldwide security contractors off the hook Thursday, dropping all charges against them in a 2007 case in which 14 Iraqi civilians were killed and 20 wounded during a Baghdad shooting. The Justice Department wasn’t thrilled with this outcome, and a DoJ spokesman told The Washington Post that his colleagues are “still in the process of reviewing the opinion and considering our options.” —KA The Washington Post: In a 90-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled that the government violated the guards’ rights by using their immunized statements to help the investigation. The ruling comes after a lengthy set of hearings that examined whether federal prosecutors and agents improperly used such statements that the guards gave to State Department investigators following the shooting on Sept. 16, 2007. “The explanations offered by prosecutors and investigators in an attempt to justify their actions and persuade the court that they did not use the defendants’ compelled testimony were all too often contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility,” Urbina wrote. […] The five guards—Paul Slough, Nicholas Slatten, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Donald Ball—are charged with voluntary manslaughter and weapons violations in the killing of 14 civilians and the wounding of 20 others. Read more
A federal judge let five Blackwater Worldwide security contractors off the hook Thursday, dropping all charges against them in a 2007 case in which 14 Iraqi civilians were killed and 20 wounded during a Baghdad shooting. The Justice Department wasn’t thrilled with this outcome, and a DoJ spokesman told The Washington Post that his colleagues are “still in the process of reviewing the opinion and considering our options.”? —KA
The Washington Post:
In a 90-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled that the government violated the guards’ rights by using their immunized statements to help the investigation. The ruling comes after a lengthy set of hearings that examined whether federal prosecutors and agents improperly used such statements that the guards gave to State Department investigators following the shooting on Sept. 16, 2007.
“The explanations offered by prosecutors and investigators in an attempt to justify their actions and persuade the court that they did not use the defendants’ compelled testimony were all too often contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility,” Urbina wrote.
[…] The five guards—Paul Slough, Nicholas Slatten, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Donald Ball—are charged with voluntary manslaughter and weapons violations in the killing of 14 civilians and the wounding of 20 others.
?
Related Entries
- December 29, 2009 Torture’s Best Friend: An Interview With John Yoo
- December 28, 2009 One Day We’ll All Be Terrorists
Death of the Superdelegate?
A group of Democrats convened by Barack Obama has recommended that the Democratic Party eliminate the influence of “superdelegates,” who have had an unrestricted vote in the nomination process because they were not selected based on the primaries or caucuses. —JCL The Washington Post: Eighteen months removed from a protracted presidential primary fight, a group of Democrats gathered by President Obama has recommended that the party effectively eliminate the influence of so-called superdelegates by redefining their voting power. The Democratic Change Commission, which was convened last August to examine the nominating process, is recommending that superdelegates—also known as unpledged delegates—be required to vote along with the electoral majority of their state. “We need to show deference to what the party members in our state have done,” said Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of the co-chairmen of the commission. Read more
A group of Democrats convened by Barack Obama has recommended that the Democratic Party eliminate the influence of “superdelegates,” who have had an unrestricted vote in the nomination process because they were not selected based on the primaries or caucuses.
? —JCL
The Washington Post:
Eighteen months removed from a protracted presidential primary fight, a group of Democrats gathered by President Obama has recommended that the party effectively eliminate the influence of so-called superdelegates by redefining their voting power.
The Democratic Change Commission, which was convened last August to examine the nominating process, is recommending that superdelegates—also known as unpledged delegates—be required to vote along with the electoral majority of their state.
“We need to show deference to what the party members in our state have done,” said Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of the co-chairmen of the commission.
Related Entries
- December 29, 2009 Torture’s Best Friend: An Interview With John Yoo
- December 28, 2009 One Day We’ll All Be Terrorists