Community | October 14, 2009 | 40 comments

Judge closes Blackwater trial to public

source: http://rawstory.com/2009/10/judge-closes-blackwater-trial-to-public/

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RFIDemocracy
Prosecution of five Blackwater employees could be thrown out over immunized statements

A US District Court judge has barred the public from attending -- or the media from reporting on -- hearings in the trial of five Blackwater employees charged over the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in 2007.

A breaking story at the Washington Post reports that hearings to determine whether evidence against the accused was properly collected will be kept under wraps.

At issue are statements the State Department collected from Blackwater immediately after the incident. In exchange for the employees' co-operation, the State Department, then under the control of the Bush administration, granted the Blackwater guards immunity from prosecution over their statements.

The current case being pursued by the Justice Department is being crafted so as to avoid using the immunized statements. But Judge Urbina ordered hearings into whether those statements were used to gather evidence after all. If it turns out they were, the judge will likely throw out the case against the five Blackwater employees, the Post reports.

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40 comments // Judge closes Blackwater trial to public

  • Ragan
    • 0
      Ragan  

    • This Judge must have been a Bush appointee. One thing bothers me, why are Supreme court Judges appointed by the party in power? Why aren't judges appointed for knowledge of law and the ability to act without a political bias. We should not have politics involved in any part of law, since politics are almost 100 % corrupt. Some things should be left to the state and local governments and not to the Feds. The people need as much protection as any corrupt political body yet this government is overburdened with police. Why? Obama is a lawyer and has the right to repeal bush's grant of immunity for Blackwater,but does he have the guts?

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • H0M3GR0WN
  • J_Jammer
  • Ragan
    • 0
      Ragan  

    • Blackwater was Bush's own private little vicious army and swat team. This is another case of Obama's incompetence if he does invalidate Bush's immunity toward Blackwater. Obama was supposed to be a consitutional lawyer and it appears he may have been an Affirmative Action misfit if he doesn't know the reality. By overlooking Bush accountability he has shown that he is willing to accept Bush's incompetence as a normal for Presidents and that Presidents can do as they please. Bull

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • None of these ACCUSATIONS make sense.

      And it's a play on emotion to state that they kill CIVILIANS....I want 100% proof that they are civilians. Oh anyone can be a civilian--technically.

      Such a word is only used to make those that kill seem evil...even though this is WAR and more civilians died during WWII than all the wars combined in 1990 to now.

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  

    • Blackwater is the perfect storm of power, religion, murder & empire building under delusion of grandeur !

      ...and they are still going strong !

      Why Is Obama Still Using Blackwater?

      On the second anniversary of the single worst massacre of Iraqi civilians committed by a private force since the US invasion, President Obama should be forced to explain to the American people and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan why he continues to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to this company and why he permits them to remain on the ground, representing the United States in these countries.

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  
    • WhiteNoise:

      Another Lawsuit Targets Founder of Blackwater:

      The latest case accuses Blackwater founder Erik Prince of personally directing murders from a 24-hour remote monitoring "war room" at the private military company's Moyock, N.C., headquarters.

      On more than one occasion, the suit says, Prince's men went "night hunting" in helicopters after 10 p.m. over the streets of Baghdad, wearing night goggles, killing at random.

    • 2 years ago
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  
    • WhiteNoise:

      Why Doesn't Hillary Clinton Fire Blackwater?

      As a candidate, Clinton pledged to ban Blackwater. She now has the power to do it, but continues to use them indefinitely

      Meanwhile, according to federal contract data, on August 13, Blackwater was paid another $23 million on a $156 million security contract in Afghanistan with the US State Department.

      US government contractors have had their contracts cancelled for far less than the crimes Blackwater is alleged to have committed.

      So... WTF

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • SDLN
    • 0
      SDLN  

    • When a company changes it's brand (Blackwater -> Xe Services LLC), they know they've done something wrong.

    • 2 years ago
  • hollyMiamiFla
  • USER001
    • 0
      USER001  

    • "Surprise, surprise. The powers that be want this to disappear...and we all know it will."

      Wait, you mean Obama doesn't 'change" for justice anymore? But he promissed!

      I mean, I'm assuming you mean Obama, with his party's majority lead in the 'House, Senate,
      and of course, the Executive branch!

      What other "powers" could there be that couldn't over-ride this?

      Why doesn't Eric Holder investigate the case himself?

      Why doesn't Obama launch his own investigation?

      BUSH IS GONE... RIGHT!?

      ...

      Liberals can't say shit for Obama!

    • 2 years ago
  • Progresshiv
  • zack
    • 0
      zack  

    • America, What happened to you?

      I wanna see through all the lies of society
      To the reality, happiness is at stake
      I wanna hold up my head with dignity
      Proud of a life where to give means more than to take
      I wan't to live beyond the modern mentality
      Where paper is all that you're really taught to create

      Do you remember the forgotten America?
      Justice, equality, freedom to every race?
      Just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy
      Make up and hair to the truth behind every face
      That look around to all the people you see,
      How many of them are happy and free?

      I know it sounds like a dream
      But it's the only thing that can get me to sleep at night

      I know it's hard to believe
      But it's easy to see that something here isn't right

      I know the future looks dark
      But it's there that the kids of today must carry the light.

    • 2 years ago
  • Conniepae
  • Ragan
  • S3th
    • 0
      S3th  

    • Justice:

      Something that is bought and paid for to avoid.

      The rich get away with murder. The poor go to prison. And those who are a humiliation to the US, or military are swept under the rug.

      Anyone still wondering why lady Justice wears a blindfold?

    • 2 years ago
  • Betico
  • hunzedog
  • TheDesertEagle
  • bombastinator
  • RFIDemocracy
  • kennymotown
  • Progresshiv
  • WhiteNoise
  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • franksalot
  • kennymotown
  • WhiteNoise
    • 0
      WhiteNoise  
    • franksalot:

      "A society whose citizens refuse to see and investigate the facts, who refuse to believe that their government and their media will routinely lie to them and fabricate a reality contrary to verifiable facts, is a society that chooses and deserves the Police State Dictatorship it's going to get." -- Ian Williams Goddard

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • kennymotown
  • larrysnotes
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • larrysnotes:

      hate to tell you but if you "win' this one we all lose. Al Qeada is praying that this thing gets thrown out. These guys are some of the most hated buttholes in the mid east and if the US government is unable to prosecute it will be recruiting gold for them. More suicide bombers, more money, more guns.

      But of course that may be what you mean. The right has been onan "anything that hurts the United States hurts the administration. And anything that hurts the adminsitration gives us power" trip lately.

    • 2 years ago
  • larrysnotes
  • DreSandoval
  • strangeyellowpattern
  • DreSandoval
  • jeffissleeping
  • CarolineS
    • 0
      CarolineS  

    • indeed, we cant even prosecute the police properly what in gods name makes us think that some government paid for murderers will get justice!, they were only doing the governments job, and it's not like we can prosecute bush or anyone else in parliament for that matter

    • 2 years ago
  • hpseaton
  • USER001
    • 0
      USER001  
    • hpseaton:

      "Surprise, surprise. The powers that be want this to disappear...and we all know it will."

      Wait, you mean Obama doesn't 'believe' in 'change' for justice anymore?

      But he promissed!

      I mean, I'm assuming you mean Obama, with his party's majority lead in the 'House, Senate, and of course, the Executive branch!

      What other "powers" could there be that couldn't over-ride this?

    • 2 years ago
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