The retrial of a military contractor accused of complicity in Abu Ghraib will soon go before a jury

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A jury could begin deliberating as early as Thursday whether a Virginia-based military contractor is responsible for the mistreatment of detainees 20 years ago at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

The civil trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria is the second this year to raise allegations against the Reston-based CACI, which deployed civilian interrogators to Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004 to investigate U.S. military efforts to support the invasion of Iraq.

The first trial earlier this year ended in a mistrial with a hung jury that could not agree on CACI's liability.

The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal shocked the world's conscience two decades ago after photos emerged showing naked, abused inmates being forced into humiliating poses.

Military police officers, who were seen in the photos smiling and laughing as they ordered the abuses, were tried in military courts. But none of the CACI's civilian interrogators were ever prosecuted, although military investigations concluded that several CACI interrogators had committed misconduct.

The current lawsuit filed by three former Abu Ghraib detainees alleges that CACI interrogators contributed to their mistreatment by conspiring with military police to “soften” detainees for questioning by using them Subjected to abuse that included beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and dog attacks.

The trial earlier this year was the first time a U.S. jury heard the claims of Abu Ghraib survivors. It came after 15 years of legal wrangling and multiple appeals in which the case was dismissed, only to be reinstated multiple times by a federal appeals court.

CACI insists, as it has from the beginning, that it has done nothing wrong. She does not deny that some detainees were horribly abused, but has sought to cast doubt on whether the three plaintiffs in this case were being truthful about the specific abuse they alleged.

But CACI says its employees had nothing to do with the abuse. And they claim that any isolated misconduct by their employees was actually the responsibility of the Army, which, according to CACI, had complete oversight and control over the civilians it provided to the war effort.

CACI again moved this week to dismiss the case out of court, arguing in its filing that the plaintiffs “have not presented any evidence or maintained any allegations that CACI employees directly mistreated them.” Instead, the plaintiffs are seeking to have CACI represent them liability for injuries caused by others.”

Plaintiffs' attorneys have said that CACI's contract with the Army and the Army Field Manual make clear that CACI is responsible for supervising its own workers.

However, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema allowed the case to proceed. Closing arguments are expected on Thursday.