Judge declares mistrial after jury deadlocks in lawsuit filed by former Abu Ghraib prisoners

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge declared a mistrial after a jury said it was deadlocked and couldn’t reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago. The mistrial came in the jury’s eighth day of deliberations. The eight-member civil jury in Alexandria deadlocked on accusations the civilian interrogators who were supplied to the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004 had conspired with soldiers to abuse detainees as a means of “softening them up” for questioning. The trial was the first time a U.S. jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since shocking photos of detainee mistreatment.