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Happy29
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Oct. 2) -- The only U.S. prosecution arising from the Sept. 11 attacks was dealt a severe setback Thursday when a judge prohibited prosecutors from seeking to execute Zacarias Moussaoui and barred any trial evidence linking the al-Qaida loyalist to the terrorist strikes.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema handed down the sanctions in response to the government's refusal to obey her orders granting Moussaoui access to three al-Qaida prisoners. He contends they would testify he was not involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.
She rejected the more draconian penalty of dismissing all charges, a punishment proposed by Moussaoui and his lawyers and not contested by the government.
Prosecutors said before the ruling that dismissal would be the quickest route to intervention by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Richmond, Va.
After Brinkema's decision, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said in a statement, ''The interests of justice require that the government have the opportunity to prove the full scope of the conspiracy alleged in the indictment, which included the brutal attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.''
The trial of Moussaoui has been delayed by the unprecedented legal dispute over his access to the al-Qaida captives.
Brinkema concluded that the defendant, a French citizen, had a constitutional right to witnesses who might exonerate him or save him from the death penalty.
The government has said Moussaoui has no right to question enemy combatants who are held in secret locations abroad, and whose every word of trial testimony could reveal classified information.
''We continue to believe that the Constitution does not require, and national security will not permit, the government to allow Moussaoui, an avowed terrorist, to have direct access to his terrorist confederates . ...'' McNulty said.
Moussaoui is accused of participating in a broad conspiracy to commit terrorism against the United States, allegations that include but are not limited to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The defendant has denied he was involved in the Sept. 11 planning, and the judge said Moussaoui deserved the chance to present testimony supporting his claim.
''That the United States has deprived Moussaoui of any opportunity to present critical testimony from the detainees at issue in defense of his life requires, as a sanction, the elimination of the death penalty as a possible sentence,'' she said. ''The defendant remains exposed to possible sentences of life imprisonment.''
Brinkema said she barred any Sept. 11 evidence against the defendant because ''it would simply be unfair to require Moussaoui to defend against such prejudicial accusations while being denied the ability to present testimony from witnesses who could assist him in contradicting those accusations.''
Brinkema, a Clinton administration nominee who was a federal prosecutor, postponed the effect of her ruling so the government could appeal.
Two of the prisoners were among Osama bin Laden's top operatives, Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and a key planner of the attacks, Ramzi Binalshibh. The third is Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a suspected paymaster for al-Qaida.
The government could move the case to a military tribunal, where greater secrecy could be allowed, but Brinkema said she ruled out dismissing the case in order to keep the trial in ''an open and public forum.''
She also cited ''the unprecedented investment of both human and material resources'' in a case that has been in the court for nearly two years without a trial.
Brinkema was responding to government defiance of her rulings in January and August, which granted Moussaoui the right to question the prisoners through a satellite connection. Their testimony also could have been used during his trial.
Frank Dunham Jr., one of the court-appointed lawyers representing Moussaoui's interests while he serves as his own lawyer, issued a statement that said the government is now relieved of a major burden.
''The government has said before the dispute that access to these witnesses put it to a ... choice of compromising national security or allowing an accused terrorist to go free. Today's opinion allows the government to avoid that dilemma entirely.''
In barring the Sept. 11 evidence, Brinkema said the government could still obtain a conviction by proving that Moussaoui was part of al-Qaida conspiracy that did not involve the 2001 attacks.
The government had a much heavier burden to show that Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty, the judge said, because prosecutors must show that his actions resulted in murder.
If Moussaoui is shown to be a minor player in al-Qaida's war against the United States, he couldn't lawfully ''be sentenced to death for the actions of other members of al-Qaida who perpetrated the Sept. 11 attacks,'' the judge said.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema handed down the sanctions in response to the government's refusal to obey her orders granting Moussaoui access to three al-Qaida prisoners. He contends they would testify he was not involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.
She rejected the more draconian penalty of dismissing all charges, a punishment proposed by Moussaoui and his lawyers and not contested by the government.
Prosecutors said before the ruling that dismissal would be the quickest route to intervention by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Richmond, Va.
After Brinkema's decision, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said in a statement, ''The interests of justice require that the government have the opportunity to prove the full scope of the conspiracy alleged in the indictment, which included the brutal attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.''
The trial of Moussaoui has been delayed by the unprecedented legal dispute over his access to the al-Qaida captives.
Brinkema concluded that the defendant, a French citizen, had a constitutional right to witnesses who might exonerate him or save him from the death penalty.
The government has said Moussaoui has no right to question enemy combatants who are held in secret locations abroad, and whose every word of trial testimony could reveal classified information.
''We continue to believe that the Constitution does not require, and national security will not permit, the government to allow Moussaoui, an avowed terrorist, to have direct access to his terrorist confederates . ...'' McNulty said.
Moussaoui is accused of participating in a broad conspiracy to commit terrorism against the United States, allegations that include but are not limited to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The defendant has denied he was involved in the Sept. 11 planning, and the judge said Moussaoui deserved the chance to present testimony supporting his claim.
''That the United States has deprived Moussaoui of any opportunity to present critical testimony from the detainees at issue in defense of his life requires, as a sanction, the elimination of the death penalty as a possible sentence,'' she said. ''The defendant remains exposed to possible sentences of life imprisonment.''
Brinkema said she barred any Sept. 11 evidence against the defendant because ''it would simply be unfair to require Moussaoui to defend against such prejudicial accusations while being denied the ability to present testimony from witnesses who could assist him in contradicting those accusations.''
Brinkema, a Clinton administration nominee who was a federal prosecutor, postponed the effect of her ruling so the government could appeal.
Two of the prisoners were among Osama bin Laden's top operatives, Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and a key planner of the attacks, Ramzi Binalshibh. The third is Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a suspected paymaster for al-Qaida.
The government could move the case to a military tribunal, where greater secrecy could be allowed, but Brinkema said she ruled out dismissing the case in order to keep the trial in ''an open and public forum.''
She also cited ''the unprecedented investment of both human and material resources'' in a case that has been in the court for nearly two years without a trial.
Brinkema was responding to government defiance of her rulings in January and August, which granted Moussaoui the right to question the prisoners through a satellite connection. Their testimony also could have been used during his trial.
Frank Dunham Jr., one of the court-appointed lawyers representing Moussaoui's interests while he serves as his own lawyer, issued a statement that said the government is now relieved of a major burden.
''The government has said before the dispute that access to these witnesses put it to a ... choice of compromising national security or allowing an accused terrorist to go free. Today's opinion allows the government to avoid that dilemma entirely.''
In barring the Sept. 11 evidence, Brinkema said the government could still obtain a conviction by proving that Moussaoui was part of al-Qaida conspiracy that did not involve the 2001 attacks.
The government had a much heavier burden to show that Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty, the judge said, because prosecutors must show that his actions resulted in murder.
If Moussaoui is shown to be a minor player in al-Qaida's war against the United States, he couldn't lawfully ''be sentenced to death for the actions of other members of al-Qaida who perpetrated the Sept. 11 attacks,'' the judge said.