WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Five former Blackwater Worldwide security guards pleaded not guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter charges and other crimes stemming from a shooting incident in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead . Former Blackwater Worldwide security Donald Ball , center , leaves court after his arraignment Tuesday . Each of the former guards has been charged with 14 counts of manslaughter , 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime . The five defendants , seated in a row at a courtroom table , remained silent in court , and as they entered and departed the courthouse . A lawyer entered their plea on their behalf . Attorney David Schertler , speaking for all the defendants outside the courthouse , predicted they will be proved innocent . `` We want to make it clear to everyone these men committed no crime . They were defending themselves on a battlefield in a war zone when this occurred , '' he said . If convicted , the defendants would face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each manslaughter count , seven years in prison for each count of attempted manslaughter , and a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence for the firearms charge . Judge Ricardo Urbina set a trial date for February 1 , 2010 . He agreed with defense attorneys that preparations for the complex case will require a full year , including the likely need for lawyers to travel to Baghdad to gather information and conduct interviews . `` The United States government had a year and a half to investigate the case , and we did not . So we need a year to catch up , '' Schertler told reporters . Lead government prosecutor Kenneth Kohl did not comment outside court . The Baghdad incident , which occurred September 16 , 2007 , exacerbated the feelings of many Iraqis that private American security contractors have operated since 2003 with little regard for Iraqi law or life . It also created an extremely delicate political situation for the Bush administration and the Iraqi government . The five defendants are Donald Ball , 26 , of West Valley City , Utah ; Dustin Heard , 27 , of Knoxville , Tennessee ; Evan Liberty , 26 , of Rochester , New Hampshire ; Nick Slatten , 25 , of Sparta , Tennessee ; and Paul Slough , 29 , of Keller , Texas . A sixth former security guard , Jeremy P. Ridgeway , 35 , of California , has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter . Prosecutors did not bring manslaughter charges for three of the 17 fatalities because they do not believe they have enough evidence to win a conviction in those deaths . The company of Blackwater Worldwide does not face any charges . The indictment of the five men represents the first prosecution of non-Defense Department contractors under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act ( MEJA ) , which was amended in 2004 to allow the Justice Department to prosecute such personnel providing services `` in support of the mission of the Department of Defense overseas . '' The attorneys for the defendants contend that Blackwater 's employees in Iraq are exempt from the provisions of MEJA because the company has a contract in Iraq with the State Department , not the Defense Department . Also muddying the case are assurances of immunity initially given to the guards by State Department diplomatic security agents , who were investigating the incident before the FBI tried to interview them once it took over . The State Department maintains its agents did not offer blanket immunity from criminal prosecution , but promised only that the statements the guards made on the scene could not be used against them in any prosecution . But when the investigation was turned over to the Justice Department to examine possible criminal activity , FBI agents discovered some guards believed they were immune from prosecution and therefore refused to be interviewed again , complicating the FBI probe . A recently approved U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement pointedly specifies that U.S. civilian contractors will no longer be immune from Iraqi prosecution for crimes committed in that country . CNN 's Terry Frieden contributed to this report .
Five guards facing 17 counts of manslaughter , other charges . Charges stem from shooting in WASHINGTON square that left 17 Iraqi dead . Attorneys say men were defending themselves on a battlefield . Case is the first prosecution of CNN contractors .