Truck drivers appeal Iraqi ambush case

By JOHN PORRETTO
The Associated Press

1/30/2008

HOUSTON — Lawyers for civilian truckers who drove into a deadly ambush in Iraq nearly four years ago are getting a new chance to revive their case in a rare closed hearing before a federal appeals court.

Former KBR Inc. truck drivers and families of those killed say the former Halliburton subsidiary knowingly sent the truckers into a dangerous zone where they were attacked by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004.

The ambush killed six KBR drivers and two soldiers and seriously injured numerous others. One KBR trucker, plaintiff Reginald Lane, lost an arm and suffered irreparable brain damage.

A federal judge in Houston threw out their lawsuit against Halliburton in September 2006, ruling the Army played an integral part in decisions to deploy the convoys and that the judiciary had no authority to second-guess the military in a battlefield situation.

Several former drivers and families appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, where a three-judge panel is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday. In an unusual move, the appeals court agreed to close the hearing to the public.

Defense lawyers asked that the courtroom to be closed to anyone without permission to view “confidential information,” including an Army investigative report on the ambush.

Lawyers for the truckers didn’t object to closing the hearing. Roger E. Hawkins, who represents Lane, said the 5th Circuit has an “enormous amount of discretion” in such matters and he didn’t think challenging the request would do any good.

Hawkins said the heart of the case is not about protecting military secrets but exposing fraud in the form of deceitful employee recruiting.

The plaintiffs say in court briefs that KBR promised “safety came above all else, and that anyone ... had management’s personal authority to stop unsafe activity on the spot.”

However, they claim, in spite of warnings that attacks were imminent attacks, KBR sent the civilian convoys to deliver fuel to U.S. troops. KBR has since split from Halliburton and operates as its own, publicly traded company.

Briefs filed by KBR with the 5th Circuit have not been made public.

In a statement, KBR said the “safety and security of all employees” remains its top priority and it still grieves for those lost in the ambush.

“As this is a matter involving ongoing litigation, it is inappropriate to comment further at this time,” the statement said.

KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said 110 company employees have been killed in Iraq since it started working under a multibillion-dollar military contract in 2003.