U.S. Supreme Court accepts sealed petition from Blackwater security guards under indictment for manslaughter

The U.S. Supreme Court accepted a secret petition from four former Blackwater security guards indicted for manslaughter for firing on Iraqi civilians wounding 20 and killing 14. The court will consider the petition in deciding if a federal district judge erred in dismissing the charges against the guards on the grounds that the prosecution used [...]

Employee of private security firm in Iraq claims Pulitzer prize-winning reporter libeled him

An ex-Marine and former employee of a private security firm in Iraq is suing reporter Steve Fainaru for defamation in the book, “Big Boy Rules” about mercenaries in Iraq. The man claims Fainaru called him “a sadistic killing machine” and libeled him with a number of false statements including some about his  lack of care [...]

Federal judge orders release of documents from 2009 Blackwater case

A federal judge ordered the release of redacted documents from a 2009 hearing over whether the government used immunized statements of Blackwater guards on trial for a 2007 Baghdad shooting. -DB Courthouse News Service January 8, 2010 By Avery Fellow A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the released of redacted documents from last year’s [...]

Federal judge closes hearings to public in trial of Blackwater security guards charged with manslaughter in Iraq

A U.S. district judge closed the Blackwater manslaughter pretrial hearings to the public, he said, to enable a fair trial by shielding witnesses and potential jurors from a flurry of media reports. -DB The Washington Post October 15, 2009 By Del Quentin Wilber A federal judge blocked the public Wednesday from attending a critical set [...]