ShareThisDefense lawyers for five Blackwater Worldwide guards charged with manslaughter in the deaths of Iraqi civilians who surrendered in Salt Lake City last week say they plan to ask a Washington, D.C., federal judge to return the matter to Utah -- even after losing an initial request to hold the case in the state.
They give convenience as their reason, saying traveling to Salt Lake City is easier than making a trek to the nation's capital. But some speculate the defense is shopping for a sympathetic jury pool in a conservative, gun-friendly state.
Karen Lisko, a Denver-based trial consultant, said the state's conservative political leanings are no indication of which way a jury will lean. According to her company, Persuasion Strategies, the typical Utah juror is smart and "very three-dimensional," she said. "Fairness is a huge theme with all juries, but with Utah juries in particular."
The defense would be helped by the supportive attitude toward the war among many Utah residents and the fact that the defendants were in a tough situation in Baghdad, Lisko said. But Utah jurors are going to consider the victims and their families, she said. The bottom line, said Lisko: "Whoever has the strongest evidence will be the victor."
On Dec. 4, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted five Blackwater Worldwide security guards -- including Donald Ball of West Valley City, Utah on 35 counts each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and weapons violations. The charges stem from a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that allegedly left at least 14 dead and 20 wounded.
Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, an ex-Marine, also says the facts of the case would determine the outcome in Utah because jurors carefully follow instructions.
"If you want a jury pool to overlook the evidence and the law, this is not the place," he said.
Susanne Gustin, a Salt Lake City defense attorney, says the guards would get a sympathetic ear in Utah.
"Utah jurors are going to give these young men who risked their lives in a chaotic atmosphere the benefit of the doubt," Gustin said. "There's strong support for the war and the military in Utah."
Attorney Peter Stirba, who has represented law enforcement officers in criminal and civil cases, said jurors in some communities have concerns about how police conduct themselves. In Utah, though, police officers are well trained and bad encounters with the public are rare, he said. Civil rights attorney Brian Barnard said the panels are likely to include members who live outside urban areas and who haven't had a bad experience with an officer.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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