I'd say it was on purpose, but they are government prosecutors.
"Defense says US suppressed evidence in Blackwater" by Pete Yost | Associated Press July 29, 2014
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Blackwater security guards said Monday that the government has suppressed evidence favorable to defendants who are on trial in the killings of 14 Iraqis in Nisoor Square in Baghdad.
US Attorney Ronald Machen says that ‘‘a series of innocent oversights’’ led to the problem.
The defense team for the four former Blackwater guards says the suppressed evidence consists of photographs of eight spent shell casings that would fit an AK-47 — the weapon of choice used by insurgents as well as Iraqi authorities.
A court filing by the defense attorneys says a US Army captain took the photographs at a bus stop several hundred feet from Nisoor Square and that they never saw the light of day until federal prosecutors turned them over last Wednesday.
The photos could become an important part of the case. They could bolster the accounts of the security guards, who say they were being fired upon by insurgents and that the guards were simply returning fire.
‘‘The government has suppressed, for seven years, evidence in its possession that is plainly exculpatory on the central disputed issue’’ in the case, the defense lawyers said in a court filing.
‘‘Had they possessed these photos, defendants would have made them a central focus during opening statements as evidence of incoming fire,’’ the lawyers said. “Defendants also would have used this evidence to cross-examine at least four witnesses who have already testified’’ and who are not subject to being recalled because they have returned to Iraq.
The defense attorneys are asking that they be allowed to explain to the jurors in the case why they are just hearing now about the new evidence. The defense lawyers also want the judge to tell the jurors that the government failed to disclose the evidence before the trial, which began over a month ago.
According to the court filing, then-Army Captain Peter Decareau was one of the first Americans to arrive at the Nisoor Square crime scene, where he took photos, including two of a group of eight AK-47 shells on the ground behind the bus stop. On Oct. 12, 2007, Decareau turned over to the FBI a CD of the crime scene photos.
There ya' go!
Based on Decareau’s testimony, federal prosecutors all understood that Decareau did not observe any AK-47 shell casings on the scene, Machen wrote defense lawyers. In addition, prosecutors ‘‘incorrectly assumed’’ that a montage of Decareau’s photos contained all the photos from the disc he had provided to the FBI, Machen wrote.
The eight AK-47 shells themselves have disappeared. Neither the State Department nor FBI agents recovered them.
That casts doubt not only on the story itself, but on those agencies or the evidence presented claiming those shells were there. In the confusion, no one knows what happened except that at the end of the day there are 14 dead Iraqis lying around Nisoor Square.
‘‘The physical evidence possessed by the FBI does not include the AK-47 shells photographed at the bus stop by Decareau,’’ the court filing states. ‘‘Decareau’s photographs are the only evidence of those AK-47 shells at the bus stop immediately after the incident.’’
The court filing raised the possibility that Iraqi authorities had taken the shell casings.
‘‘Notably, photographs taken Sept. 16, 2007, show many Iraqi officials at the bus stop,’’ said the court papers.
--more--"
It does make you wonder which side the defense attorneys are on.
"Ex-Blackwater guard recounts shooting" Associated Press August 01, 2014
WASHINGTON — A former Blackwater security guard testified Thursday that he didn’t feel that he and his colleagues were being threatened when they opened fire in downtown Baghdad, resulting in the shootings of dozens of Iraqis.
Jeremy Ridgeway’s testimony undercuts the defense of four former Blackwater colleagues, who say they acted in self-defense because they believed they were under attack by insurgents. Ridgeway is the prosecution’s key cooperating witness in the criminal trial.
Ridgeway told a jury that he didn’t see any Iraqis pointing guns in Nisoor Square, that there were no telltale muzzle flashes in the distance, that there was no incoming fire, and that there was no sound of AK-47 rounds going off.
Ridgeway has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Three of his former colleagues are charged with voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and gun violations. A fourth Blackwater guard, Nicholas Slatten, is charged with first-degree murder.
--more--"
Also see:
"The FBI has done a thorough search of its archives and found no evidence that more Oklahoma City bombing videos exist, federal attorneys told a judge on Monday during the first day of a trial that has rekindled long-dormant questions about whether others were involved in the devastating 1995 attack. Additional searches for videos that Salt Lake City lawyer Jesse Trentadue believes are being withheld would be burdensome and fruitless, FBI attorney Kathryn Wyer said."
In light of the Blackwater trial and other events, it's not an unreasonable or burdensome request at all, scum. Sure hope it wasn't another hoax or noble lie.
Video of 1995 Okla. bombing doesn’t exist, FBI says
Confirming that one does.
