Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

US military contractor gets probation after pleading guilty to shooting Afghan detainee

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] US military contractor Don Ayala who pleaded guilty in February to voluntary manslaughter for the 2008 shooting of an Afghan detainee was given five years probation and a $12,500 fine Friday. Ayala had been charged with second-degree murder for shooting and killing detainee Abdul Salam in retaliation for Salam's earlier attack on Ayala's fellow contractor Paula Lloyd. At the time of the incident, Ayala was stationed in Afghanistan as a contractor for Strategic Analysis as part of the US Army's Human Terrain System program. Ayala was prosecuted under Section 3261 of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), which allows criminal charges to be brought against military contractors overseas. He was sentenced in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Crimes committed by military contractors abroad have also occurred in Iraq and are considered to be the impetus behind provisions in the US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement that give Iraqi courts limited jurisdiction over contractors working there. Earlier this week the security company known formerly as Blackwater Worldwide concluded its operations in Baghdad as its contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq expired. The decision by the Iraqi government not to renew the contract was motivated in part by the alleged killing of 17 civilians by Blackwater guards in September 2007. In January, five Blackwater guards pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and weapons charges. A sixth guard pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter for his role in the same incident.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on May 08, 2009 (boomark / email).