Appeals court vacated Slatten's first conviction and ordered resentencing for Slough, Liberty, and Heard
The mixed appellate ruling avoids presenting the original 2015 sentences as final.
Entities and roles
- Dustin Laurent HeardBlackwater contractor in Nisur Square case
- Evan Shawn LibertyBlackwater contractor in Nisur Square case
- Nicholas Abram SlattenBlackwater contractor in Nisur Square case
- Paul Alvin SloughBlackwater contractor in Nisur Square case
- Donald J. TrumpDonald Trump root
Relationships in this file
- Donald J. TrumpTrump-pardoned Blackwater contractor in appellate dispositionDustin Laurent Heard
- Donald J. TrumpTrump-pardoned Blackwater contractor in appellate dispositionEvan Shawn Liberty
- Donald J. TrumpTrump-pardoned Blackwater contractor in appellate dispositionNicholas Abram Slatten
- Donald J. TrumpTrump-pardoned Blackwater contractor in appellate dispositionPaul Alvin Slough
Claims and evidence
- factdocumented
In the case of the four Blackwater contractors Trump later pardoned, the D.C. Circuit vacated Nicholas Slatten's first-degree-murder conviction and remanded him for a new trial, affirmed Paul Slough's, Dustin Heard's, and all but one of Evan Liberty's convictions, and remanded those three for resentencing after finding their mandatory 30-year firearms terms unconstitutional as applied.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: United States v. Slatten, consolidated opinionOpinion summary, pp. 3–4
- Trump White House Archives: Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of ClemencyLater Trump pardon relationship