“Smoking Gun” Belatedly Revealed to Defense in Blackwater Case

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“Smoking Gun” Belatedly Revealed to Defense in Blackwater Case
By Christopher M. Matthews | March 3, 2010

Prosecutors in the high-profile Blackwater trial only belatedly turned over an exculpatory e-mail to defense attorneys, a document that the attorneys claim impeached the prosecution’s entire approach to the case.

The document, which defense attorneys called “a smoking gun,” was revealed Tuesday when previously sealed courtroom transcripts were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Associated Press and The Washington Post.

In a closed hearing in federal court in Washington on Oct. 26, David Schertler, who represented defendant Dustin Laurent Heard in the case, first raised the issue of the e-mail with Judge Ricardo Urbina. In the email, one of the prosecutors asserts that despite the fact that the only evidence the government has against defendant Nicholas Slatten is tainted, they should use it anyway, Schertler said.


“In this email Mr. Malis is, essentially, saying, look, I’m going to make the decision that we’re going to violate this defendant’s Fifth Amendment rights, we’re going to introduce the tainted information to the second grand jury and in his words, quote, unquote, it is a calculated risk,” said Schertler.

more: http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/03/03/smoking-gun-belatedly-revealed-to-defense-in-blackwater-case/

Before Blackwater case failed, legal debate at DOJ
By MATT APUZZO – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON — As the U.S. investigated Blackwater Worldwide contractors for a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad, a legal debate was playing out behind the scenes at the Justice Department between two veteran prosecutors. One urged caution. The other aggressively pushed the case forward.

The disagreement foreshadowed problems that in December led a judge to dismiss manslaughter charges against five contractors who fired machine guns and grenades into a busy intersection. The dismissal outraged Iraqis and sent the Obama administration scrambling to repair a case that is all but in ruins.

In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina said prosecutors ignored the advice of senior Justice Department officials and built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity. Documents unsealed Tuesday in response to a request by The Associated Press and The Washington Post paint the clearest picture yet of how the case prosecution went awry.

Immediately after the Sept. 16, 2007, shooting, Blackwater contractors told State Department investigators what happened. Two days later, the security gave written statements under a promise that nothing they said could be used against them in a criminal case.

more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gew3dv19JkSK3-DtzwDvCn-5g8TAD9E6QEC01