North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking dismissal of charges against a former Blackwater Worldwide security contractor accused in a 2007 shooting of Iraqi civilians.
In a court filing Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., asked a federal judge to dismiss the indictment against Donald Wayne Ball “with prejudice” — meaning that he could not be charged again in the case.
The Sept. 16, 2007, shooting occurred when security contractors guarding U.S. diplomats opened fire in Nisoor Square, a crowded Baghdad intersection, killing 17 Iraqi civilians. Charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and discharging a firearm remain pending against four other contractors.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said the government has exercised its prosecutorial discretion in ending the case against Ball based on its assessment of the admissible evidence against him.
