Supreme Court won’t take appeal in Blackwater case

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is staying out of a case that involves former Blackwater security contractors convicted in the 2007 slayings of 14 Iraqi civilians at a crowded traffic circle in Baghdad.

The court said Monday it won’t hear an appeal brought by the four former contractors convicted after a 2014 trial in the case. They argued in part to the high court that a federal law they were charged under doesn’t apply to them. A District of Columbia federal appeals court disagreed in a ruling in August.

The appeals court did order new sentences for three of the men: Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard. It also overturned the conviction of the fourth man, Nicholas Slatten, saying he should have been tried separately. Slatten’s re-trial is scheduled for June.