Judge Upholds Charges Against Blackwater Guards
Del Quentin Wilber, The Washington Post
A federal judge today refused to toss out charges against five U.S. security contractors accused of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in a busy Baghdad square in 2007.
Blackwater security guards in a firefight in Iraq. A federal judge refused to dismiss manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards. (Photo: Gervasio Sanchez / AP)
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina came in an early legal challenge brought by defense attorneys representing the guards, who worked at the time for Blackwater Worldwide. The guards' attorneys had argued the government didn't have jurisdiction to bring the charges.
The guards were indicted in December on charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and using a firearm in a crime of violence in the controversial shooting in bustling Nisoor Square in September 2007. The government says the guards killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 others in a salvo of bullets and grenade explosions. Prosecutors have said the guards unleashed an unprovoked attack on the civilians.
The charges were brought under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) of 2000, which allows U.S. prosecutors to charge American service members, their family members and those employed by the military for illegal acts committed overseas.
A 2004 amendment expanded MEJA to cover those working "in support" of Defense Department missions, a provision that prosecutors argue covers security contractors, such as Blackwater, working for the State Department in Iraq.
Attorneys for the guards argued yesterday that Blackwater was not supporting the military mission. The company, which has since renamed itself Xe, had a contract with the State Department and were not supporting military missions, they said.
Urbina said the guards' legal arguments "are rather strong" but declined to toss out the charges. Such questions should be addressed after prosecutors presented their case in court, the judge said.
Urbina also rejected an argument by the guards that the charges should be dismissed because the government improperly brought charges in the District and not in the home state of one of the defendants. The guards - Paul Slough, 29, Nicholas Slatten, 24, Evan S. Liberty, 26, Dustin L. Heard, 27, and Donald Ball, 26 - live in Tennessee, New Hampshire, Texas and Utah. A sixth guard, Jeremy P. Ridgeway, 34, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter charges in the District and is expected to cooperate with prosecutors.
Defense attorneys are expected to file a flurry of motions over the next year. The trial has been tentatively scheduled to start next February.