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.Support the show

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 REVIEWRoyce Lamberth's Rein of Terrorhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/40712173WASHINGTON POSTAt US Urging, Court Throws Lamberth off Indian Casehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2006/07/12/at-us-urging-court-throws-lamberth-off-indian-case/72b9f5cd-e668-4d9f-98f9-10d83e5052b7/JUDICIAL PROFILERoyce Lamberthhttps://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/LamberthMay2008-pdf-3.pdfSupport the show

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:WIKILEAKSState Department diplomatic cables: "Fallout over Blackwater Continues"https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10BAGHDAD63_a.htmlASSOCIATED PRESSBiden says "U.S. to Appeal Blackwater Dismissal"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amGSJuwszC8Support the show

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:WIKILEAKSHillary Clinton Email Archive -- Blackwater casehttps://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/680ABC NEWSJeremy Ridgeway pleads guilty in secret deal.https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FedCrimes/story?id=6417440&page=1Support the show