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[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

Judge deals blow to govt in Moussaoui trial
Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:23pm ET

[Gopher]

[deleted]

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

That film was so over rated.

Free Al Qaeda fighters means mass murder.

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

Prosecutor: Moussaoui case may not go forward
U.S. mulls appeal, other options after judge bars key witnesses
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN



ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors are considering abandoning their crippled death penalty case against al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, a transcript of a closed-door meeting with the judge reveals.

"Without some relief, frankly, I think that there's no point for us to go forward," prosecutor Robert Spencer told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema after a ruling Tuesday that gutted half his case.

Because of misconduct by a government attorney, Carla Martin, Brinkema decided to bar "any and all witnesses and evidence dealing whatsoever" with aviation security.

She lambasted prosecutors, saying, "In the annals of criminal law, I don't know if there has ever been a case with this many significant problems."

Moussaoui has admitted participating in an al Qaeda plan to fly jetliners into landmark U.S. buildings. A jury has been hearing testimony that will help them decide whether Moussaoui should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison.

The trial came to a halt Monday when it was revealed that Martin had coached witnesses by sending them transcripts and notes about trial testimony by e-mail, in violation of a court order.

Brinkema's ruling stopped short of granting the defense request to dismiss the death penalty option, but it gutted half of the government's case for executing Moussaoui.

Immediately after the ruling was announced, Spencer said the government would consider an appeal, and prosecutors are meeting Wednesday to discuss their options.

But at a meeting in Brinkema's chambers later Tuesday, Spencer also suggested prosecutors may throw in the towel.

"What I'd call the FBI portion of the case can certainly go forward," Brinkema said, according to the transcript.

"It can, your honor, but we don't know whether it is worth us proceeding at all, candidly, under the ruling you made today, and that's why we need to assess it, because without some relief, frankly, I think that there's no point for us to go forward," Spencer said.

He asked for time for prosecutors to regroup and mull their options.

"That's why we want to just, rather than waste the jury's time and the court's time, and we're all mindful of the expense of this proceeding, that we ought just to weigh our rights for reconsideration of our appellate rights, your honor," Spencer said.

Brinkema has delayed the resumption of the trial until Monday.

Prosecutors have told the jury that Moussaoui's lies to federal agents after his arrest in August 2001 contributed directly to nearly 3,000 deaths on September 11.

Had Moussaoui revealed his al Qaeda ties and the terror group's hijacking plans rather than covering that up, prosecutors say, the FBI and aviation security officials would have taken steps to thwart the plot.

The defense disputes that, saying investigators would not have unraveled the plot in the 25 days between Moussaoui's arrest on an immigration violation and the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Brinkema's ruling blocks not only a half-dozen witnesses who work for the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration but also may have the practical effect of blocking testimony from airline security experts, who also are on the government's witness list.

Prosecutors are drafting a motion for Brinkema to reconsider her ruling. It could be filed by the end of the day.

Alternatively, prosecutors have the option to appeal directly to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, arguing that Brinkema's decision to exclude witnesses and suppress evidence was improper. Prosecutors could ask the court to order Brinkema to allow the aviation witnesses to testify.

"It happens during trials, but it's a very high standard they would have to meet," said former federal prosecutor Andrew McBride. "They need to show a clear error of law on Brinkema's part and there's irreparable harm to the United States."

Moussaoui is the only person to stand trial in the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.








Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/15/moussaoui.trial/index.html

[huffdaddy]

[johnriley007]

"At least 700 and upto 70,000 trials like Moussaoui? It would overwhelm the US justice system and think of all the anti US left wing lawyers that would come from all over the world just for the chance to screw over the US. "

taking transcripts of testimony from grand jury witnesses and other witnesses in the case, and supplying those transcripts to some witnesses who were to
testify in the sentencing hearing, is a MAJOR BREACH in legal ethics. grand jury testimony is supposed to be strictly secret. if the prosecutor did what the story said, she could not only be disbarred, but criminally prosecuted.

also, he was already found guilty. this was just the sentencing phase, so he will be in prison for life.

next time, before you go off on 'left wing' lawyers, make sure you have the facts straight. the prosecutor screwed up big-time! the judge rightly nailed her for it. this was not a group of left-wing lawyers trying 'screw over the US." they're actually really lucky this happened during the sentencing phase and not the trial itself. at least this way he'll be in prison for life at the worst. a lot of people who should have gone to prison, don't b/c of dumbasses like this prosecutor.

[Wangja]

I hope my American friends here take this as a huge vindication of the US justice system.

If that very freedom for all later permits one AQ operative to go free, so be it.

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

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[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

[huffdaddy]

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

[mithridates]

It doesn't take time to get a wire tap - in a crucial situation the law already permits an instantaneous wire tap, followed by an application for a court order (I think within 36 hours).

[huffdaddy]

[Gopher]

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]