Helicopter carrying Iran's president found by rescue teams: Iran official
Rescuers on Monday found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, which had crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran the day before.
A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a jury said it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago.
The mistrial came in the jury's eighth day of deliberations. The deliberations went far longer than the trial itself.
The eight-member civil jury in Alexandria deadlocked on accusations the civilian interrogators who were supplied to the U.S. army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004 had conspired with soldiers there to abuse detainees as a means of "softening them up" for questioning.
The trial was the first time a U.S. jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since photos of detainee mistreatment -- accompanied by smiling U.S. soldiers inflicting the abuse -- shocked the world during the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Reston, Virginia-based CACI had argued that it wasn't complicit in the detainees' abuse. It said that its employees had minimal interaction with the three plaintiffs in the case and that any liability for their mistreatment belonged to the government, not CACI.
Multiple jurors told The Associated Press that a majority of the jury sided with the plaintiffs, but they declined to give an exact numerical breakdown among the eight-member panel.
The jury sent out a note Wednesday afternoon saying it was deadlocked, and indicating in particular that it was hung up on a legal principle known as the "borrowed servants" doctrine.
CACI, as one of its defences, has argued it shouldn't be liable for any misdeeds by its employees if they were under the control and direction of the army.
The plaintiffs' lawyers tried to bar CACI from making that argument at trial, but Brinkema allowed the jury to consider it.
Both sides argued about the scope of the doctrine. Fundamentally, though, if CACI could prove its interrogators were under the command and control of the army at the time any misconduct occurred, then the jury was instructed to find in favour of CACI.
The issue of who controlled CACI interrogators occupied a significant portion of the trial. CACI officials testified that they basically turned over supervision of the interrogators to the army.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued otherwise, and introduced evidence including CACI's contract with the army, which required CACI to supervise its own employees. Jurors also saw a section of the Army Field Manual that pertains to contractors and states that "only contractors may supervise and give direction to their employees."
In their note explaining their deadlock, the jury said the Field Manual was one of the pieces of evidence over which they disagreed.
The jurors who spoke to AP said there was conflicting evidence in the case about whether CACI retained control of its employees while they were in Abu Ghraib.
The plaintiffs can seek a retrial.
Asked if they would do so, one of their lawyers, Baher Azmy with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that "the current expectation is that we'll continue to fight."
"The work we put in to this case is a fraction of what they endured as survivors of the horrors of Abu Ghraib, and we want to honour their courage," Azmy said.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2008 and was delayed by 15 years of legal wrangling and multiple attempts by CACI to have the case dismissed.
CACI's lawyers declined comment as they left court.
During the trial that began April 15, lawyers for the three plaintiffs argued that CACI was liable for their mistreatment even if they couldn't prove that CACI's interrogators were the ones who directly inflicted the abuse.
They argued that the interrogators had entered into a conspiracy with the military police who inflicted the abuse by instructing soldiers to "soften up" detainees for questioning.
The evidence included reports from two retired army generals, who documented the abuse and concluded that multiple CACI interrogators were complicit in the abuse.
Those reports concluded that one of the interrogators, Steven Stefanowicz, lied to investigators about his conduct, and that he likely instructed soldiers to mistreat detainees and used dogs to intimidate detainees during interrogations.
Stefanowicz testified for CACI at trial through a recorded video deposition and denied mistreating detainees.
CACI officials initially had serious doubts about his ability to work as an interrogator, according to evidence introduced at trial. An email sent by CACI official Tom Howard before the company sent interrogators to Iraq described Stefanowicz as a "NO-GO for filling an interrogator position."
CACI initially sent Stefanowicz over to Iraq not as an interrogator but as a screener, but he testified that the army -- desperately short of interrogators at a prison with a rapidly expanding population -- promoted him to interrogator within a day of his arrival.
Trial evidence showed that CACI defended the work of another of its interrogators, Dan Johnson, even after the army sought his dismissal when photos of the Abu Ghraib abuse became public, and one of the photos showed Johnson questioning a detainee in a crouched position that army investigators determined to be an unauthorized stress position.
Rescuers on Monday found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, which had crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran the day before.
A Saskatchewan man who had a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl he met on Tinder successfully appealed to shorten release conditions barring him from online dating.
Stittsville residents on Kearnsley Way are seeking answers after an unusual bylaw crackdown on Friday. Every home with a basketball net received a ticket instructing homeowners to remove their nets from the road.
Three people were killed and five others were injured Saturday night following a boat crash on the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said.
The apparent crash of a helicopter carrying Iran's president and foreign minister on Sunday sent shock waves around the region.
Less than 24 hours after Montreal's 12th homicide investigation began, Montreal police confirmed that a 55-year-old woman's death in St. Michel is the island's 13th homicide. The woman's ex-spouse has been charged with first-degree murder.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it's 'untenable' for 'smaller players' like Walmart and Costco to delay signing on to the government- and industry-led grocery code of conduct, now that industry giant Loblaw has agreed to do so.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
Canada’s largest First Nations police service, the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service issued a community safety alert as extremely toxic drugs are likely circulating in many of the communities it serves.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.