Raven 23: Presumption of Guilt

The men of Raven 23 resist mounting prosecutorial pressure to plead guilty, and must finally face trial -- a legal odyssey that dragged for seven more years and encompassed three trials. In this episode, Gina chronicles the repeated violations of the men’s civil rights at the hands of prosecutors who are aided by a complicit judge.

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In our final episode, Gina visits with Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nick Slatten and Paul Slough three months after President Donald J. Trump issued unconditional pardons to free them from prison. They talk about hearing the news that they were coming home to their families for Christmas, and about their hopes and dreams. 

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Gina examines the role played by the national press in the prosecution of Raven 23.

Although he is mere months from taking senior status, Judge Royce Lamberth inexplicably seizes the Raven 23 case, minutes after it is randomly assigned to another judge. This move is consistent with Lamberth’s checkered legal and judicial career.

FOR MORE:

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW REVIEW
Royce Lamberth's Rein of Terror
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40712173

WASHINGTON POST
At US Urging, Court Throws Lamberth off Indian Case
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2006/07/12/at-us-urging-court-throws-lamberth-off-indian-case/72b9f5cd-e668-4d9f-98f9-10d83e5052b7/

JUDICIAL PROFILE
Royce Lamberth
https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/LamberthMay2008-pdf-3.pdf

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Just two days after Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the government’s case against Raven 23, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her legal advisors were scheming on ways to revive it.

The news of the dismissal reverberated across Iraq, with religious and political leaders demanding that the US Justice Department bring new charges against Dustin Heard, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Nick Slatten. 

State Department cables from the time show that the Iraqi government was threatening to withdraw from the Status of Forces Agreement and lucrative oil contracts.

Obama sent Vice President Joseph Biden to Iraq to assure the Iraqi people publicly that they would have “justice” in the Raven 23 case.

FOR MORE:

WIKILEAKS
State Department diplomatic cables: "Fallout over Blackwater Continues"
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10BAGHDAD63_a.html

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Biden says "U.S. to Appeal Blackwater Dismissal"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amGSJuwszC8

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Gina and Mike examine the US government’s machinations to overcome the shortcomings of the investigation.

Witness accounts begin shifting as US prosecutors pressure witnesses to bring the case to trial in response to mounting political pressure in Iraq.

Prosecutors convene a grand jury to try to make manslaughter charges stick against Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Paul Slough and Nick Slatten. Their star witness is Raven 23 team member Jeremy Ridgeway, who recants his statement that the convoy took incoming fire after prosecutors threaten him.

Heard, Liberty, Slatten and Slough describe increasingly aggressive tactics by FBI agents and prosecutors to try to force them into guilty pleas.

Less than a day after Judge Urbina kills the case, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton queries her legal advisor, Harold Koh: “What can we do about Judge Urbina’s ruling?”

FOR MORE:

WIKILEAKS
Hillary Clinton Email Archive -- Blackwater case
https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/680

ABC NEWS
Jeremy Ridgeway pleads guilty in secret deal.
https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FedCrimes/story?id=6417440&page=1

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Today, on May 12, the Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus sent a letter to President Trump formally requesting a Presidential Pardon for the men of Raven 23.  Representative Gohmert took the time to speak with Gina about the growing movement in Congress for a Presidential Pardon for Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard - four decorated military veterans unjustly serving time in prison for over five years now.  

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Gina recently interviewed Derrick Miller, the Executive Director of the Justice for Warriors Caucus and Military Adviser to Texas Representative Louie Gohmert.  Thanks to Representative Gohmert's leadership, Miller spends every day advocating for military justice reform.  

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We pick up TWO YEARS after the investigation into the Nisour Square Incident and Blackwaters alleged misconduct 

US District Judge Ricardo Urbina throws out the case against Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Paul Slough and Nick Slatten, blasting prosecutors for pervasive misconduct and vindictive prosecution. 

The Raven 23 men pick up their lives cautiously after Urbina’s New Year’s Eve 2009 ruling, trying to resurrect their dreams for themselves and their families. 

Meanwhile, the Bush and succeeding Obama administrations grapple with shifting politics in Iraq, including the country’s first presidential election and negotiation of the status of forces agreement that will determine how long US troops may remain in Iraq.

FOR MORE:

POLITICO
Judge Dismisses Blackwater Case
https://www.politico.com/story/2009/12/judge-dismisses-blackwater-case-031091

MEMORANDUM OF DISMISSAL
Judge Ricardo Urbina Comments on Dismissal of Charges
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/documents/memorandum-of-dismissal-of-charges-against-blackwater-guards

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Gina and Mike take a look at the US Government's case files, including witness statements and shell casings at the scene, showing that the Raven 23 team was taking incoming gunfire. 

We take a look at how the US government turned over the investigation into the  Nisour Square incident to the Iraqi National Police, which employed shady and, in US courts, illegal tactics that caught the attention of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

And Entifahd Qanbar, the former President of the Iraqi National Congress, and Joseph Low IV, executive director of the esteemed Trial Lawyers College, give their professional perspective.

FOR MORE:

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Amicus brief supporting Raven 23
https://www.nacdl.org/getattachment/ae7cc5bb-9704-4690-80ce-471692618938/blackwater.pdf

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In this episode, we’re introduced to: Nick Poulos, Blackwater's detail leader; TJ Hill, a mechanic working for Blackwater, and Keith George, Blackwater's  Iraq protection leader. Each of the men recounts his memories of the Nisour Square Incident, and where the government’s inquiry went off track.

And Gina sits down with former Raven 23 vehicle commander Tommy Vargas, who has recently found long-buried information

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