Sponsored Content
« Conference Championships Thread | Main | Global Warming Street Theatre, or "Seasons Don't Fear ManBearPig, Nor Do The Wind, The Sun or The Rain" »
January 24, 2010

DOJ Will Appeal Blackwater Ruling

Last month the case was dismissed because the prosecutors used coerced statements to bring the charges. The judge wrote a thorough 90 page decision (PDF) explaining where prosecutors went wrong. Obama's DOJ is not ready to give up the chance to convict Blackwater "mercenaries":

The government will appeal a court decision to dismiss charges against Blackwater security guards accused of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday.

The U.S. federal court found last month that the defendants' constitutional rights had been violated, angering many Iraqis. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government has hired U.S. lawyers to prepare a law suit against Blackwater, a security contractor now called Xe Services.

With Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at his side at a Baghdad news conference, Biden expressed "personal regret" for the violence in a Baghdad traffic circle when Blackwater guards were accused of opening fire on innocent civilians.

Judge Urbina recently decided not to seek sanctions against the prosecutors, but it seems like it was a close call. This is just the latest of a half-dozen DOJ prosecutions that have been dismissed in the past two years for prosecutorial misconduct. The most notable of those dismissals was the corruption case against Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

Incidentally: I don't know whether they've been fairly accused or not. That's the problem with trying to turn a war-zone into a crime scene. Unlike a crime scene, it was impossible for investigators to contemporaneously interview witness, inspect the scene, recover evidence from the scene, or even bodies. The politically-motivated prosecution had almost no choice but to use their own statements against them.

And that ends the inquiry, as far as I'm concerned. The Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination applies to the guilty as much as it does the innocent. In fact, it's of almost no use at all to the innocent, who necessarily do not need its protection. The prosecutors knew this, in fact they were warned several times by more experienced DOJ prosecutors, but went ahead anyway. Because of the many warnings they received, I'm disappointed that Judge Urbina decided not to sanction them.


digg this
posted by Gabriel Malor at 11:36 AM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
[/i][/s][/b][/u]blaster: "#twoweeks! Getting in before the end of the t ..."

I'm Gumby Damnit!: "Memo to self: Disregard pleas to ban automatic wea ..."

Notorious BFD: "Weasel, you're the best. Thank you. ..."

Weasel: "Posted by: Eromero at May 28, 2023 09:54 PM (Uv0D2 ..."

Eromero: "1911 restoration was a real treat. ..."

RedMindBlueState[/i][/s][/b][/u]: "[i]Can't believe MoMe is fast approaching. Looking ..."

Duncanthrax: "[i]So, October? Posted by: sharon(willow's appren ..."

Weasel: "Posted by: RI Red at May 28, 2023 09:42 PM (tLjUh) ..."

Weasel: "Posted by: GWB at May 28, 2023 09:41 PM (t+Wem) - ..."

RI Red: "Can't believe MoMe is fast approaching. Looking fo ..."

[/b][/s][/i][/u]Oddbob: "OK, [i]now[/i] it's dark (longitude ~-95.25). ..."

GWB: "Time to sign off, mostly. Thank you, Weasel, for t ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64