NORFOLK, Va., March 10 (UPI) -- Jurors in the Virginia trial of two former Blackwater contractors in the shooting deaths of two Afghan civilians in Kabul deliberated for a second day Thursday.
The jury began deliberating about 11 a.m. Wednesday after hearing about five days of testimony and closing arguments but were sent home at the end of the day without reaching a verdict, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Thursday.
They will decide the fate of Christopher Drotleff of Virginia Beach and Justin Cannon of Corpus Christi, Texas, charged with murder, assault and firearms offenses in the May 2009 shooting deaths of two civilians in Kabul and the wounding of a third man.
The pair has maintained they fired at a car in self-defense thinking the driver intended to attack them.
Prosecutors say the two acted recklessly by firing around 30 rounds into the car, wounding the driver and killing the passenger and a nearby pedestrian walking his dog.
A first trial of Drotleff and Cannon ended in a hung jury.
