Jury in Abu Ghraib trial says it is deadlocked; judge orders deliberations to continue

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge ordered jurors Friday to keep deliberating after they said they were deadlocked in a lawsuit alleging a Virginia-based military contractor is liable for abuses suffered by inmates at the Abu Ghraib prion in Iraq two decades ago. The eight-person civil jury has deliberated the equivalent of three full days in the civil suit in federal court in Alexandria. The trial is the first time a U.S. jury has heard claims of mistreatment brought by survivors of Abu Ghraib. Three former detainees sued Reston, Virginia-based contractor CACI. They allege the company is liable for the mistreatment they suffered when they were imprisoned at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004. The jury will resume deliberating on Monday.