Murder conviction in Blackwater case thrown out, other sentences overturned

A U.S. appeals court on Friday threw out the first-degree murder conviction of a former Blackwater Worldwide security guard sentenced to life in prison in the killings of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a Baghdad traffic circle in 2007. The court also ordered resentencings for three others convicted in the case. The September 2007 shootings fomented deep resentments about the accountability of American security forces during one of the bloodiest periods of the Iraq War. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel ruled that the trial court “abused its discretion” in not allowing Nicholas A. Slatten, 33, of Sparta, Tenn., to be tried separately from his three co-defendants, even though he alone faced a murder charge for firing what prosecutors said were the first shots in the civilian massacre.

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which will encourage operations like Blackwater to hire, and to promise war-hungry politicians that they can have their war without worrying about using the military too much, with the political blowback that can cause.

This is horrible news.

The deterrent effect of the original convictions was big - it deterred mercenaries from recklessly killing innocent civilians, which deterred things like Blackwater/Academi from hiring them and saying "don't worry, you can't be convicted", which deterred politicians from using them to mop up the effects of aggressive wars.

Can we be certain of the impartiality of the author of the article and the WP?

a reply to: xuenchen

What? It is factual. The convictions were overturned.

a reply to: xuenchen

it's a thing now.

look up soldier a, british trooper went on a rampage got off on diminished grounds.

of course killing all these arabs in cold blood will never have a knock on effect...

originally posted by: GrantedBail
a reply to: xuenchen

What? It is factual. The convictions were overturned.

Only 1, the 1st degree murder conviction, was thrown out. The cases were sent back to the lower courts for new sentencing. The issue on the conviction being thrown out was not allowing him to separate his trial from those of the others.

A setback in a legal sense but by no means exoneration.

a reply to: GrantedBail

The deterrent effect of the original convictions was big - it deterred mercenaries from recklessly killing innocent civilians, which deterred things like Blackwater/Academi from hiring them and saying "don't worry, you can't be convicted", which deterred politicians from using them to mop up the effects of aggressive wars.

It didn't deter a damn thing. Blackwater is bigger than ever, under a completely different name. The government still uses the same people that have done "questionable" things while on contract. There's still little to no oversight of them.

But it's adorable you think it changed.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
It didn't deter a damn thing.

Nope. Not at thirty thousand a month.