This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/us/blackwater-verdict.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Former Blackwater Guards Convicted in Iraq Shooting Blackwater Guards Found Guilty in 2007 Iraq Killings
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Four former Blackwater Worldwide security contractors were convicted Wednesday on charges stemming from a deadly 2007 shooting in Iraq. WASHINGTON — Four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards were convicted and immediately jailed Wednesday for their roles in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisour Square that marked a bloody nadir in America’s war in Iraq.
Federal court jurors found one defendant guilty of murder and three others of manslaughter and weapons charges, roundly asserting that the shooting was criminal. The defendants showed little emotion as the lengthy verdict was read. A jury in Federal District Court found that the deaths of 17 Iraqis in the shooting, which began when a convoy of the guards suddenly began firing in a crowded intersection, was not a battlefield tragedy, but the result of a criminal act.
Seventeen Iraqis died when gunfire erupted on Sept. 16, 2007 in the crowded Nisour Square in Baghdad. The shooting inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad and helped solidify the notion that Blackwater, America’s largest security contractor in Iraq, was reckless and unaccountable. The convictions on murder, manslaughter and weapons charges represented a legal and diplomatic victory for the United States government, which had urged Iraqis to put their faith in the American court system. That faith was tested repeatedly over seven years as the investigation had repeated setbacks, leaving Iraqis deeply suspicious that anyone would be held responsible for the deaths.
The former contractors said that they were ambushed by insurgents and that civilian deaths were the unfortunate, unintended consequences of urban warfare. “This verdict is a resounding affirmation of the commitment of the American people to the rule of law, even in times of war,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., the United States attorney in Washington. “Seven years ago, these Blackwater contractors unleashed powerful sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers on innocent men, women and children. Today, they were held accountable for that outrageous attack and its devastating consequences for so many Iraqi families.”
The defendants were Blackwater guards. One of them, Nicholas A. Slatten, who the government said fired the first shots, was convicted of murder. The others — Dustin L. Heard, Evan S. Liberty and Paul A. Slough — were convicted on manslaughter and firearms charges. One defendant, Nicholas A. Slatten, a sniper who the government said fired the first shots, was convicted of murder. The others — Dustin L. Heard, Evan S. Liberty and Paul A. Slough — were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and using a machine gun to carry out a violent crime. A fifth contractor, Jeremy Ridgeway, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter and cooperated with prosecutors.
Jurors in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia began deliberating on Sept. 2. They faced a complicated verdict form that ran 16 pages and required them to consider charges against each contractor for every victim. They asked few questions and offered no hints about their discussions. Jurors could not reach verdicts on several of the counts against Mr. Heard, but that will have little bearing on the sentencing. The machine-gun charges carry mandatory 30-year minimum prison sentences, more than the manslaughter charges. Mr. Slatten faces possible life in prison. No sentencing date has been set.
The Nisour Square shooting, like the Abu Ghraib prison abuses and the massacre by Marines of 24 Iraqis in Haditha, was a low point in the Iraq war. Blackwater came to symbolize American recklessness abroad and became a flash point in the debate over whether the United States had become too reliant on contractors in war zones. The trial was an epilogue to the story of Blackwater, which began as a police- and military-training facility in North Carolina and came to symbolize the country’s outsourcing of its wartime responsibilities.
The shooting occurred when four Blackwater armored trucks responded to a car bombing. The Iraqis were killed when Blackwater contractors fired into the crowd using machine guns and grenade launchers. About 1,000 of Blackwater’s contractors guarded diplomats in Iraq. Others loaded bombs onto Predator drones. The company’s founder, Erik Prince, tapped retired Central Intelligence Agency officials for executive positions, and at one point, the C.I.A. hired Blackwater contractors to covertly track and kill Qaeda operatives worldwide, a program that was shelved before any killings were conducted.
Since then, Iraqis have been skeptical that a United States court would rule against Americans for shooting Iraqis. That suspicion grew as the case suffered repeated setbacks, often of the government’s own making, over many years. While the company’s security guards were involved in scores of shootings in Iraq, it was the 2007 incident in Nisour Square that helped cement Blackwater’s image as a company that operated with impunity because of its lucrative contracts with the American government. The company became the subject of several Justice Department investigations, all of which the company and its executives survived. But ultimately, public outrage over the shooting contributed to Blackwater’s demise. It lost its contracts and was renamed, sold and renamed again.
There was evidence that State Department officials had gathered shell casings after the shooting to try to protect Blackwater. Then, State Department investigators gave the contractors limited immunity. In 2009, a judge threw out the charges, citing the Justice Department’s mishandling of evidence. An appeals court later reinstated the case. Despite their skepticism about the trial, more than two dozen Iraqi witnesses volunteered to travel to Washington to testify. They described a scene of horror and confusion as they took cover from the machine-gun fire coming from American armored trucks. An Iraqi traffic officer described watching a woman cradle her dead’s son’s head on her shoulder, shortly before her own death. A father sobbed uncontrollably as he testified about his 9-year-old son’s death. And witnesses from inside the Blackwater convoy described their former colleagues as firing recklessly on innocent people.
The Iraqi government had wanted to prosecute the Blackwater contractors in Baghdad, but the American government would not allow it. The shooting began shortly after four American armored trucks rolled into Nisour Square on Sept. 16, 2007. The Blackwater contractors said insurgents ambushed them. Their lawyers described the death of innocent civilians as a tragic and unavoidable consequence of urban warfare.
Manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 15 years per count, or up to eight years for involuntary manslaughter. The firearms charge carries a mandatory 30-year prison term. Murder carries up to life in prison. “Nick Slatten is innocent,” his lawyer, Thomas Connolly, said after the verdicts were announced. “We’re disappointed that the jury found otherwise, but the jury’s verdict does not change the reality of what happened — and what didn’t happen — in Nisour Square.”
The trial, which lasted more than two months, painted a gruesome picture of the shooting incident as several witnesses traveled from Iraq to testify. An Iraqi traffic officer demonstrated for jurors how a woman had cradled her dead son’s head on her shoulder, shortly before her own death. A father sobbed uncontrollably as he testified about the death of his 9-year-old son. And witnesses from inside the Blackwater convoy described their former colleagues as firing recklessly. Prosecutors said the shooting was unprovoked. But with little forensic evidence and no ballistics linking any gunman to any victim, the case came down to the testimony of witnesses. Many told conflicting stories, forcing prosecutors to urge jurors to believe some aspects of their own case and discount others. During their 28 days of deliberations, jurors sent notes to Judge Royce C. Lamberth that hinted they were planning to convict in the case. But the defendants showed little emotion. Three of them arrived late to court. Mr. Heard broke the courtroom silence by popping open a Coke can just before the jury entered. Lawyers, however, said their clients were devastated by the verdicts.
“I’ve seen people completely unarmed, people doing nothing wrong, get shot,” Matthew Murphy, a former Blackwater contractor, testified. He called the Nisour Square shooting “the most horrible, botched thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” “This was wrong,” said David Schertler, a lawyer for Mr. Heard. “This verdict is incomprehensible.”
But the details of the shooting were heavily disputed. The defendants, backed up by some of the government’s own witnesses, said insurgents had attacked the convoy with AK-47s assault rifles. Several witnesses testified that they had seen or heard AK-47 fire. Radio logs showed that the convoy had reported incoming fire. A radiator line on a Blackwater truck was ruptured, and photos showed it pocked with what defense lawyers said were bullet holes. The case against the Blackwater guards faced a number of hurdles, many of them of the government’s own making. From the outset, there were indications that State Department officials tried to gather shell casings after the shooting in an effort to protect Blackwater. The State Department also gave the contractors limited immunity after the shooting, which made it significantly harder for the Justice Department to build its case.
The trial amounted to an epilogue in the story of Blackwater, a company whose fortunes grew with America’s war on terrorism. It began as a police- and military-training facility in rural North Carolina and became one of the country’s richest security contractors. It protected American diplomats, conducted clandestine raids alongside C.I.A. officers and loaded bombs on Predator drones. A judge threw out all charges in 2009, citing “reckless” government behavior. A new prosecution team salvaged the case but dropped charges against one guard because of a lack of evidence.
But public outrage over the shooting, coupled with congressional hearings and a lengthy Justice Department investigation, ultimately led to the company’s demise. It lost its contracts and was renamed, sold and renamed again. Then prosecutors missed a deadline to recharge Mr. Slatten. That is why he alone was charged with murder, which has no statute of limitations.
Susan L. Burke, a lawyer who represented Iraqi victims in a lawsuit against Blackwater, said the conviction sent a message to the world about the power of American courts. “But I don’t think anything can make up for the loss of a family member,” she said.
Blackwater settled the wrongful-death lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.
The criminal trial raised novel legal issues, and the case is expected to wind through the appellate courts for a year or more. One issue — whether the Justice Department had jurisdiction to bring the case at all — could undo the entire case.
Under federal law, the government has jurisdiction for overseas crimes committed by defense contractors or those supporting the Pentagon’s mission. Blackwater was working for the State Department, a distinction that jurors concluded did not matter but which has not been tested.
Defense lawyers are expected to ask an appeals court to let the contractors out of jail while the appeal plays out. “There’s more to be done on this case,” William F. Coffield, a lawyer for Mr. Liberty, said as he left court.