Blackwater Murder Case Dropped

(AP)  Updated at 9:46 p.m. EST

The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.

The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. It touched off a string of investigations that ultimately led the State Department to cancel the company's lucrative contract to guard diplomats in Iraq.

Iraqis have said they're watching closely to see how the U.S. judicial system handles the five men accused of unleashing an unprovoked attack on civilians with machine guns and grenades.

A one-paragraph notice filed Friday says only that prosecutors have asked that the case against Nicholas Slatten of Sparta, Tenn., be dropped. The government's detailed request to the court was filed with the judge and with the defendant, but was not made public.

Prosecutors filed the request in a way that allows them to file new charges against Slatten later. There is no indication in the documents whether they intend to. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said Friday he could not say whether new charges would be filed.

Slatten's attorney, Thomas Connolly, said he could not comment on the court documents but said Slatten has maintained his innocence all along. Slatten was an Army sniper who served two tours in Iraq before joining Blackwater.

The request could be a bad sign for the government. After the shootings, some guards spoke to investigators under the promise of immunity. Prosecutors have been arguing behind closed doors that the immunity deal did not taint the case. The judge is considering that issue now. Jury selection in the trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 25.

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Five guards, all military veterans, face charges. Prosecutors say the shooting was unprovoked but Blackwater says its convoy was ambushed. A sixth pleaded guilty, turned on his former colleagues, and pleaded guilty to killing one Iraqi and wounding another.

The case against the remaining four guards is set for trial in February. Prosecutors were aggressive in their charges, using an anti-machine gun law to attach 30-year mandatory prison sentences to the case. And though authorities can't say for sure exactly which guards shot which victims, all five guards are charged with 14 counts of manslaughter.

So far, most of the case has played out behind closed doors. Defense attorneys have argued the FBI improperly built their case using information gathered under the promise of immunity. Investigators say they were careful to build their case only on material gathered independent of the immunity deals.

The trial likely will hinge on whether the Blackwater guards were provoked. Iraqi witnesses say Blackwater fired the only shots. Some members of the Blackwater convoy said they saw gunfire. Others said they didn't. Radio logs of the shooting indicate the guards were fired on.

Prosecutors say the guards were itching for a fight and unleashed a gruesome attack on unarmed Iraqis, including women, children and people trying to escape. The convoy allegedly launched a grenade into a nearby girls' school.

Since the shooting, Blackwater, headquartered in Moyock, N.C., has renamed itself Xe Corp. and has undergone a management upheaval.

[tnronin]

You people that are swallowing the media tripe need to get your information. A couple facts that you don't know. One, the BW vehicles were fired upon, this is PHYSICAL EVIDENCE which is exculpatory. Two, there was a large weapons cache found in the high rise from which BW was taking fire. Were it not for the accurate M203 fire into a window from which BW was taking there would have been a successful ambush on the part of the bad guys. This is all verifiable if you would take the time. Oh not to mention the green zone guards (non-american) who observed the who thing, and would have testified on the behalf of BW. This whole thing was politically motivated. Some of the Bad guys were connected politically in Iraq. Period. It is being hidden because of the fact the Gov't doesn't want anyone to know.

[photon816]

Everyone seems to have taken the Iraqi Oficials' viewpoint, which those officials took for political or personal reasons. Terrorists have fired at our troops from mosques, so that those who fire back can be accused of defiling their holy places. Terrorists have fired at our troops from school buildings, so those who fire back can be accused of shooting at their children. Terrorists have fired at our troops from among crowds of men, women and children, and our troops have been hit without firing back. Terrorists think that American morality is foolish weakness. Iraqi parents are responsible for their children. If a crowd of Iraqi civilians allows a number of terrorists to mingle among them. and to fire at us from among them, to h--- with all of them. There was a story 2 or 3 years ago about this happening, our troops being killed, and the crowd of men, women and children cheered. I haven't heard of any such stories since this 2007 Baghdad shooting where 17 in a crowd were killed. The Blackwater men are good and honorable men who risked their lives for high pay. They are accused of unleashing an unprovoked attack on civilians with machine guns and grenades. I don't believe it. They are not monsters. Neither are they fools. This was not unprovoked. We should hold our opinions until we learn the circumstances.

[photon816]

Everyone seems to have taken the Iraqi Oficials' viewpoint, which those officials took for political or personal reasons. Terrorists have fired at our troops from mosques, so that those who fire back can be accused of defiling their holy places. Terrorists have fired at our troops from school buildings, so those who fire back can be accused of shooting at their children. Terrorists have fired at our troops from among crowds of men, women and children, and our troops have been hit without firing back. Terrorists think that American morality is foolish weakness. Iraqi parents are responsible for their children. If a crowd of Iraqi civilians allows a number of terrorists to mingle among them. and to fire at us from among them, to h--- with all of them. There was a story 2 or 3 years ago about this happening, our troops being killed, and the crowd of men, women and children cheered. I haven't heard of any such stories since this 2007 Baghdad shooting where 17 in a crowd were killed. The Blackwater men are good and honorable men who risked their lives for high pay. They are accused of unleashing an unprovoked attack on civilians with machine guns and grenades. I don't believe it. They are not monsters. Neither are they fools. This was not unprovoked. We should hold our opinions until we learn the circumstances.

[dolansprings]

Those Blackwater people are supposed to be just guards. they are much more than that, they are mercenaries. and mercenaries do what they like to do, kill people. They signed up for Irag just so they could do that legally.

[13Omega]

this story reminds me of the movie Rules of Engagement.

[lmartink]

So he didn't do it..... Really. I wonder who slaughted all those innocent civilians.

[SocietysNightmare]

If the circumstances were different (i.e. - Iraqis on trial for slaughtering 17 Americans), the accusations of injustice would ring from sea to shining sea. These trigger happy toy soldiers got away with murder. It's a shame.

[joelycra]

Better get Holder to seal any photos of the incident also. If no one can see it, it never happened... right?

[wyodutch]

Ain't American justice wunnerful?
.
The poor go to jail for stealing a loaf of bread, while the well-connected commit murder with impunity.
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America is beginning to offend the nostrils.

[Turbidite]

"The government alleges in the documents unsealed today that at least 34 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and children, were killed or injured without justification or provocation by these Blackwater security guards," national security prosecutor Pat Rowan said." Dec. 8,2008, CBS News.
How is this not murder? Who authorized dropping of the case? This will disappear because nobody cares about justice when it comes to foreign nationals.