Charges for Blackwater ex-guard? Lawyer doubts it

The Seattle attorney representing a former Blackwater contractor under investigation in the high-profile shooting death of an Iraqi said his client is being pilloried by Congress and the media, and he questions whether criminal charges can ever be filed.

"There are jurisdictional issues. And there are factual issues, including the issue of self-defense," said Stewart Riley, who represents Andrew Moonen of Seattle. "You have to remember that the Green Zone is still a war zone."

Riley said he has represented Moonen, a former Army paratrooper, since January, just a few weeks after Moonen allegedly shot and killed the bodyguard to the Iraqi vice president during a Dec. 24 confrontation in the Baghdad "Green Zone," the heavily guarded compound that contains the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government offices.

Moonen's identity has not been officially released by Blackwater or the government, but Riley on Wednesday confirmed his client is at the center of the probe. Moonen, 27, did not answer when a Seattle Times reporter went to his home Wednesday evening.

Moonen lives in Seattle's South Park neighborhood, just west of Boeing Field, in a home he purchased in January 2006 for $273,000, King County records show.

Two high-ranking Department of Justice sources who are familiar with the case, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Moonen case has been what one of them called a "hot potato" that has been discussed at the highest levels of both the State Department and Justice. "There are serious jurisdictional issues that are unresolved eight months" after the case was referred to federal prosecutors in Seattle, one of the sources said.

It is possible that neither Iraqi law or military justice can be applied in the case, since Moonen is no longer in Iraq or a member of the military. Since Blackwater was contracted through the State Department, some legal experts question whether some form of diplomatic immunity might be applied.

The other source said the investigation itself is complicated: "We're trying to conduct a homicide investigation from 12,000 miles away.

"Right now, we're not able to made a decision either on the jurisdictional issues, or the facts of the case."

Blackwater, Moonen's former employer, was hired to provide security for State Department officials. Moonen was an armorer living in the heavily barricaded "Green Zone" compound in Baghdad.

Blackwater has long been criticized by Iraqis and several U.S. lawmakers who see it as a band of rogue gunmen accountable to no one. A report critical of the private security firm was released Monday by majority staffers of the House Oversight Committee. The report details complaints of Blackwater employees indiscriminately firing their weapons on Iraqis, failing to report incidents and not aiding civilians injured by the security firm's personnel.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince on Tuesday said his staff was comprised of courageous individuals who face the same threats and high-stress environment as U.S. military personnel, and noted 30 Blackwater personnel have been killed and no Americans have died under the company's watch.

Moonen served in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division from April 2002 to April 2005, Riley said. He served a seven-month deployment in Iraq, from September 2003 until early April 2004. Army records indicate he was honorably discharged, but do not show any special medals or commendations, The New York Times reported on its Web site Wednesday. It was not clear when he began work for Blackwater.

According to the congressional report released this week, the incident under investigation began when a Blackwater worker was wandering drunk around the Green Zone after a party last Christmas Eve. He allegedly encountered — and fatally shot — a 32-year-old guard to Iraqi Vice President Adil Abd-al-Mahdi. Blackwater arranged to have the State Department fly the worker to the United States, fired him and fined him, and paid the slain guard's family $20,000.

The Justice Department announced it would investigate the incident after an outcry from Iraqis.

According to court records, Moonen has had several traffic violations in Washington state, including speeding tickets in 2006 and 2007, a dismissed violation for driving with a suspended license in 2001 and two citations for driving without a license in 2001. He has no criminal record.

Moonen's father, Alvin Moonen of Kalispell, Mont., declined to comment on the case Wednesday and referred a Seattle Times reporter to Riley.

Seattle Times staff reporters Brian Alexander and Justin Mayo and news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report. Material from The Associated Press and Seattle Times archives is included in this report.