Charges for Blackwater ex-guard? Lawyer doubts it

[maddezmom]

Source: The Seattle Times

The Seattle attorney representing a former Blackwater contractor under investigation in the high-profile shooting death of an Iraqi said his client is being pilloried by Congress and the media, and he questions whether criminal charges can ever be filed.

"There are jurisdictional issues. And there are factual issues, including the issue of self-defense," said Stewart Riley, who represents Andrew Moonen of Seattle. "You have to remember that the Green Zone is still a war zone."

Riley said he has represented Moonen, a former Army paratrooper, since January, just a few weeks after Moonen allegedly shot and killed the bodyguard to the Iraqi vice president during a Dec. 24 confrontation in the Baghdad "Green Zone," the heavily guarded compound that contains the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government offices.

~snip~

Two high-ranking Department of Justice sources who are familiar with the case, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Moonen case has been what one of them called a "hot potato" that has been discussed at the highest levels of both the State Department and Justice. "There are serious jurisdictional issues that are unresolved eight months" after the case was referred to federal prosecutors in Seattle, one of the sources said.

It is possible that neither Iraqi law or military justice can be applied in the case, since Moonen is no longer in Iraq or a member of the military. Since Blackwater was contracted through the State Department, some legal experts question whether some form of diplomatic immunity might be applied.



Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003924077_blackwaterguard04.html?syndication=rss

[havocmom]

1. Thinkin other bad mercs (or their bosses) will deliver punishment

One bad apple is probably not all the bad apples and dead men don't talk much

[jdlh8894]

2. Question?

A Diplomat(or Head of State)from another country is attacked on his/her way to the UN in NYC. Do the people guarding them,whether it be Secret Service or a private company shoot to kill? And if they do, would it be diplomatic immunity?

[Robbien]

3. From what I've read, giving private security firms immunity

is a new thing. Usually only the US is the one demanding the immunity from foreign governments.

So if this situation happened in the US, the diplomat's security detail would be legally responsible for shooting civilians.

[jdlh8894]

4. Question being?

Would they have immunity?