Judge gets 2nd chance to get it right: Liberty resentencing set for Thursday

The older brother of Evan Liberty, a childhood buddy and one of his cousins he grew up with will be among those speaking on his behalf during what is expected to be an emotional resentencing on Thursday in federal court in Washington before the same judge who sentenced him in April 2015 to a 30-year mandatory guns sentence in the so-called 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Iraq.

Liberty, who grew up in Rochester and attended Spaulding High before joining the Marines, is being resentenced because the 30-year gun sentence for using an automatic weapon was tossed by an appellate tribunal two years ago as "cruel and unusual punishment."

Older brother Aaron Liberty, Chris Buslovich, who joined the Marines with Liberty while still at Spaulding High and cousin Brad Stanton, who happens to be a defense lawyer in Boston, will all have a chance to urge the court to release Evan on time served.

Since the appellate court vacated the sentence, Liberty, 37, has remained imprisoned at a federal facility in Pennsylvania where he has spent the last four years.

During the original 2014 trial, prosecutors accused Liberty and three other Blackwater guards from his Raven 23 unit of an unprovoked machine gun and grenade attack upon a crowded Nisour Square full of innocent civilians in which 14 were killed and many more wounded.

Defense lawyers countered that they were fired upon by insurgents dressed as Iraqi policemen and they only sought to defend themselves.

The day he was found guilty Liberty said, "I don't want to spend any more time in jail. As God is my witness, I shot at two people that day, who were dressed in Iraq police uniforms and they were shooting at me."

Blackwater is a former security company that contracted with the U.S. government to provide security for diplomats during the Iraq War.

During the original sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Paul Slatten of Tennessee to life for murder. He then sentenced Liberty, Dustin Heard of Tennessee and Paul Slough of Texas to time served on manslaughter and attempted manslaughter charges, but added 30-year mandatory sentences for using machine guns in the commission of a crime, a law that was originally written to punish drug dealers who use automatic weapons to enhance their drug empires.

In this case, the four Blackwater guards' weapons were issued by the state department to protect diplomats as they transited in and around Baghdad.

Washington Attorney Bill Coffield, who has been on Liberty's defense team since the beginning, told The Rochester Voice on Friday that Evan will also speak.

"I don't think he'll say much," his dad, Brian Liberty said on Monday. "He's a man of few words."

Coffield said he expects the prosecution to give a short recounting of their charges followed by the defense response after which those advocating for Evan and the other two will be allowed to address the court.

Regarding what might come out of the sentencing, Coffield said only that the judge has "wide latitude" in such matters and that he likely will have made up his mind before he enters the courtroom on Thursday.

"We're hoping for the best for our clients, and we're going to put the best case forward," Coffield said.

Slatten was resentenced last month to life in prison, a sentence his defense team said would be vigorously appealed.

To learn more about Evan Liberty's story check out the following articles published by the former Lebanon Voice and The Rochester Voice.

For info on how to send an email or letter to President Trump in support of Evan Liberty go to supportraven23.com.

Below are links to several of the stories produced by The Lebanon Voice, which is now The Rochester Voice.

http://www.thelebanonvoice.com/friends-coaches-recall-a-man-who-could-not-do-what-the-government-says-he-did-cms-5319

http://www.thelebanonvoice.com/a-travesty-of-justice-prosecution-missteps-outlined-in-multiple-appeals-briefs-cms-5369

http://www.thelebanonvoice.com/according-to-the-government-raven-23-entered-the-square-and-started-shooting-cms-5340

http://www.thelebanonvoice.com/the-long-and-twisted-prosecution-of-evan-liberty-and-raven-23-cms-5289

http://www.thelebanonvoice.com/as-evan-liberty-waits-for-justice-the-days-come-and-go-cms-6475

http://www.thelebanonvoice.com/in-iraq-in-2007-this-was-an-everyday-thing-cms-5273

To visit the Free Raven 23 Facebook Page go to https://www.facebook.com/raven23support/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARDDVeXvDX7OWaVkKga6P5eYxQddqbgImcAW5d0qZxFIe0-0DvheKtxIgmdrOPUNR-orE1Gbeji4pfJL