Blackwater guards "Utah" strategy is squashed...

[annabanana]

It looks like they'll stand trial somewhere besides the fundie northwoods..

WASHINGTON — Five Blackwater Worldwide guards charged with the unprovoked shooting that killed 14 innocent Iraqis and wounded dozens of others in 2007 will get their day in a Washington court after unsuccessfully trying to move the trial to Utah.

A federal judge on Monday ordered the guards to report Jan. 6 to a District of Columbia courthouse, where they are expected to plead not guilty.

The decision came hours after prosecutors announced charges against the guards that carry mandatory 30-year prison terms for the wild gunfire and grenade attacks on a Baghdad street.

The guards “must be held accountable for their actions, not just for the integrity of the American people, but for the Iraqi men, women and children whose lives have been destroyed,” FBI Assistant Director Joseph Persichini said at a Justice Department news conference in Washington.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gLy-7Qsm2KeE15rL6Is9p56BcWhwD94BVTE00