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Editor's note: This is another in a long-running series of articles chronicling the case of Raven 23 and Rochester native Evan Liberty, who is wrongly serving a 30-year sentence in a federal prison in the infamous Nisur Square incident in Iraq of 2007.
The first step in what could be a prolonged and contentious appeal process aimed at justice for a Rochester native serving a 30-year prison sentence for his part in the so-called Nisur Square massacre in Iraq in 2007 concluded last week with no guarantees but a wellspring of hope from his dad who was there in federal court in Washington to watch it all unfold.
Evan Liberty, 34, who grew up in Rochester and attended Spaulding High, served in the Marines before working for security firm Blackwater at the height of tensions in Iraq following the actual fighting of the war as the United States sought to "rebuild" the country after the combat was over and Saddam Hussein's regime had been toppled.
The so-called massacre occurred around noon on Sept. 16, 2007, after Liberty's squad at Blackwater, named Raven 23, got a call to assist with security for diplomatic personnel near the Green Zone.
A huge car bomb had ignited in the Nisur Square, and a separate Blackwater team escorting the diplomats had to get out as fast as it could. Liberty's tactical support team went off to block off a traffic circle to keep traffic back (during the first team's escape).
As what appears to be civilian traffic mostly either slowed or turned back, a white Kia driving on the wrong side of the road approached the roadblock where Raven 23 was securing the circle.
When the white Kia continued to drive erratically toward the Raven 23 positons, the vehicle's occupants were warned verbally then with warning shots before someone from the team killed the driver with a single bullet.
According to sources, that's when what appeared to be Iraqi police began firing at Raven 23, initiating a furious exchange that federal prosecutors later said left at least 14 Iraqi civilians dead and many more wounded.
On April 13, 2015, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the District rejected a claim of innocence by Nicholas A. Slatten, 31, of Sparta, Tenn., who received the life sentence after being convicted of murder in October for firing what prosecutors said were the first shots in the civilian massacre.
The three other defendants, Paul A. Slough, 35, of Keller, Tex.; Liberty; and Dustin L. Heard, 33, of Maryville, Tenn.; were sentenced to 30 years plus one day after being convicted of multiple counts of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter and for using machine guns in commission of a crime.
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| Evan Liberty in DC courtroom prior to sentencing |
The 30-year mandatory sentences for using an automatic weapons charge was bogus, the statute having been passed to stop domestic machine-gun wielding bank robbers, not American security operatives using the weapons while working for the U.S. Dept. of State guarding diplomats.
Some of the other shortcomings in the prosecution's case noted by defense lawyers include:
The government didn't have jurisdiction under MEJA to prosecute the case as Raven 23 worked for the Department of State, not Department of Defense.
Improper jury instructions that lacked proper direction and omitted vital facts.
The use of testimony that was ultimately deemed to be perjured with no rehearing of the witness.
Improper venue, in which it is alleged the government used divisive tactics to place the venue in Washington rather than Utah.
For Brian Liberty of Rochester, Evan Liberty's father, the daylong hearing on oral arguments held in the same courtroom where his son was convicted more than two years ago was emotionally exhausting and angst-ridden.
"Sitting in the same courthouse in Washington that convicted my son and three other men brought back a lot of bad memories," Brian Liberty said last weekend. "It was the very last time I got to hug my son as a free man dressed in a suit rather than the Federal Prison uniform that I now see him in."
What was especially appalling to him was the first-ever admission by an appellate prosecutor that Raven 23 had been under fire and that shots had been fired just before Raven 23 entered the square.
"When the appellate prosecutor stood there and admitted that Raven 23 Tactical Support Team was under fire, something prosecutors spent the whole summer denying, was a slap in the face for the men, us and the other families."
Former Navy SEAL and former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince noted the same in an interview with SiriusXM host Alex Marlow.
"That was very new news," Prince told Marlow. "The government finally admits that, sure enough, the enemy first. And she (the appellate prosecutor) said it not once, but twice. You can read it in the transcripts of the hearings. So hopefully, the three-judge panel will take that into consideration."
The appeal held before a tribunal of federal appellate judges was testy at times as judges asked tough questions of defense lawyers, but at one point turned to the absurd as judges sought to parse whether a gun sound was a "pop" or a "boom" in determining who shot first.
"Ask any combat veteran what it's like being in a firefight and not being able to defend themselves is like," Brian Liberty said. "When they went to work every day they put their lives and the lives of the people they were protecting on the line. Evan was in Iraq close to three years and had been involved in dozens of attacks, something that they expected to happen every day rather than a once in a life time occurrence."
Briefing will not be complete for several more months as the government will have the chance to file its own brief before the defense team will have the opportunity to respond.
The case will not likely be submitted to the appellate court for oral argument until this fall.
Below are some of the links to the series.
http://thelebanonvoice.com/in-iraq-in-2007-this-was-an-everyday-thing-cms-5273
http://thelebanonvoice.com/the-long-and-twisted-prosecution-of-evan-liberty-and-raven-23-cms-5289
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