Judge open to Blackwater hearing in Kabul

NORFOLK, Va., July 28 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Virginia says he'll consider sending two former Blackwater employees accused of murder to Afghanistan to confront a key prosecution witness.

U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar said the two defendants had a constitutional right to confront witnesses against them even if this particular witness has refused to travel to the United States from Afghanistan.

"The defendants have a right to confront witnesses," Doumar said during a hearing Tuesday. "You're face to face. That's what confronting is."

The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot said Wednesday that federal prosecutors have been cool to the idea of the trip and have proposed using a live video feed from Afghanistan for the witness's testimony.

Justin Cannon and Christopher Drotleff are charged with second-degree murder for shooting two Afghan civilians to death and wounding a third after a traffic accident in Kabul last year. They have also been charged with murder by Afghan authorities, but claim they fired in self defense.

The reluctant witness, neurosurgeon Dr. Mohammad Hassan Sahibi, treated the victims and is the only person who can testify a head wound was the cause of death of one of the victims, the newspaper reported.