Not-guilty pleas in Blackwater case

[unhappycamper]

Blackwater Worldwide security guard Nick Slatten, right, and his attorney Thomas Connolly, leave federal court in Washington on Jan. 6 after pleading not guilty to manslaughter charges.


Not-guilty pleas in Blackwater case
By Antonie Boessenkool - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 22:44:31 EST

Five Blackwater Worldwide employees pleaded not guilty in federal court Jan. 6 to manslaughter charges stemming from the 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, The Associated Press reported.

The Blackwater guards were arraigned in U.S. district court in Washington.

The five defendants are former U.S. Marines Donald Ball of West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard of Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty of Rochester, N.H.; and Army veterans Nick Slatten of Sparta, Tenn., and Paul Slough of Keller, Texas.

The U.S. Justice Department said Dec. 8 that it indicted the five Blackwater employees on manslaughter and weapon charges for their involvement in a Sept. 16, 2007, shooting in Nisur Square in Baghdad.

The employees were working as security guards for the U.S. State Department at the time of the shooting. The Justice Department charged the five men with killing 14 unarmed civilians and wounding 20 other people in a 35-count indictment.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/defense_blackwater_010609/%2e