Nickdfresh
03-14-2006, 11:34 AM
Judge halts Moussaoui's trial
Improper actions by government lawyer may jeopardize case
By JERRY MARKON and TIMOTHY DWYER
3/14/2006
Zacarias Moussaoui:
no death penalty?
WASHINGTON POST (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060314/1070049.asp)
WASHINGTON - A federal judge halted the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui and threatened Monday to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence for the Sept. 11 conspirator after a veteran government aviation lawyer improperly passed along testimony and communicated with witnesses.
Clearly exasperated by the new problems in the oft-delayed case, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema called the conduct of Carla J. Martin, a Transportation Security Administration lawyer, "the most egregious violation of the court's rules on witnesses" she had seen "in all the years I've been on the bench."
Martin's actions even stunned prosecutors, who called them "reprehensible" in court papers and added, "We frankly cannot fathom why she engaged in such conduct."
Martin violated a court order by e-mailing trial transcripts to seven witnesses - all current or former federal aviation employees - and coaching them on their upcoming testimony, court papers say. She also distributed the e-mails among the witnesses.
Brinkema previously had ruled that most witnesses could not attend or follow the trial and could not read transcripts. She told jurors Monday that the ruling was "meant to prevent witnesses from comparing their testimony or listening to what other witnesses said and changing their own testimony."
The judge ordered a hearing today to find out how the mistake happened. To sanction the government for the error, she could remove the death penalty, forbid the witnesses from testifying or declare a mistrial. The government could appeal either of the first two sanctions.
Monday's developments marked another major embarrassment in the Justice Department's attempts to prosecute terrorists.
Earlier terrorism convictions in Detroit had been set aside because of prosecutorial misconduct. And a series of guilty pleas in terrorism cases in Buffalo, N.Y., are in jeopardy because of the Bush administration's controversial program of warrantless wiretaps. Prosecutions in Boise, Idaho, Portland, Ore., and elsewhere also have foundered.
Further embarrassing the government, Martin's e-mails sharply criticized the prosecutors' case, saying among other things that their opening statement "has created a credibility gap that the defense can drive a truck through."
Martin did not return calls to her home or office and did not answer the door at her apartment.
Moussaoui, 37, has pleaded guilty for conspiring with al-
Qaida in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., are seeking his execution. If Brinkema forbids the death penalty, the case would end, and Moussaoui would be sentenced to life in prison, a huge setback for the government.
"This is the only opportunity for the government to make a Sept. 11 case. This is it. There isn't another," said Juliette Kayyem, a terrorism expert at Harvard University. "The government has to cross every t and dot every i to ensure that the Sept. 11 families finally have their day in court. If it gets messed up over a technicality . . . there is no excuse."
Robert P. Mosteller, a Duke University law professor, said ethical restrictions against speaking with witnesses are drilled into every attorney. "Lawyers don't do things like this," he said. "The federal rule on witnesses is elegant in its simplicity, and it's usually not something people get wrong."
Martin, an aviation security expert, had served as a liaison between prosecutors and witnesses expected to testify about airport security. She was working with government and defense witnesses and was not a member of the prosecution team. Brinkema told jurors before dismissing them for the day that prosecutors deserved "great credit" for reporting the error to her.
Defense attorneys accused Martin of trying to shape the testimony of key witnesses. "This is not going to be a fair trial anymore . . . because of what a lawyer did in an absolute abrogation of your rules," Edward B. MacMahon Jr., a defense attorney said, as he urged Brinkema to strike the death penalty.
James Cohen, a Fordham Law School professor and an expert in witness tampering, said dismissing the death penalty this time "might be too harsh a penalty." Other legal specialists said Brinkema might strike the testimony of the witnesses with whom Martin communicated. Those witnesses, three for the government and four for the defense, are expected to testify about what the government might have done to boost airport security if Moussaoui had confessed his knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot when he was arrested in August 2001.
Martin's e-mails strongly criticized the government's case, especially an assertion by prosecutors that, if Moussaoui had not lied to the FBI, the government could have stopped the Sept. 11 terror attacks by, among other things, having the FAA focus airport security on short-bladed knives. The Sept. 11 hijackers used such knives to take over four airplanes.
"There is no way anyone could say that the carriers could have prevented all short bladed knives from going through - [Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Novak] MUST elicit that from you and the airline witnesses on direct, and not allow the defense to cut your credibility on cross," Martin wrote.
Brinkema tipped her hand last week on how she felt about the death penalty for Moussaoui by suggesting the government wants him executed for what he did not do - alert the FBI about the plot.
"I don't know of any case where a failure to act is sufficient for the death penalty as a matter of law," she said.
As Moussaoui was led away at the end of the session, he shouted, "The show must go on!"
Improper actions by government lawyer may jeopardize case
By JERRY MARKON and TIMOTHY DWYER
3/14/2006
Zacarias Moussaoui:
no death penalty?
WASHINGTON POST (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060314/1070049.asp)
WASHINGTON - A federal judge halted the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui and threatened Monday to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence for the Sept. 11 conspirator after a veteran government aviation lawyer improperly passed along testimony and communicated with witnesses.
Clearly exasperated by the new problems in the oft-delayed case, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema called the conduct of Carla J. Martin, a Transportation Security Administration lawyer, "the most egregious violation of the court's rules on witnesses" she had seen "in all the years I've been on the bench."
Martin's actions even stunned prosecutors, who called them "reprehensible" in court papers and added, "We frankly cannot fathom why she engaged in such conduct."
Martin violated a court order by e-mailing trial transcripts to seven witnesses - all current or former federal aviation employees - and coaching them on their upcoming testimony, court papers say. She also distributed the e-mails among the witnesses.
Brinkema previously had ruled that most witnesses could not attend or follow the trial and could not read transcripts. She told jurors Monday that the ruling was "meant to prevent witnesses from comparing their testimony or listening to what other witnesses said and changing their own testimony."
The judge ordered a hearing today to find out how the mistake happened. To sanction the government for the error, she could remove the death penalty, forbid the witnesses from testifying or declare a mistrial. The government could appeal either of the first two sanctions.
Monday's developments marked another major embarrassment in the Justice Department's attempts to prosecute terrorists.
Earlier terrorism convictions in Detroit had been set aside because of prosecutorial misconduct. And a series of guilty pleas in terrorism cases in Buffalo, N.Y., are in jeopardy because of the Bush administration's controversial program of warrantless wiretaps. Prosecutions in Boise, Idaho, Portland, Ore., and elsewhere also have foundered.
Further embarrassing the government, Martin's e-mails sharply criticized the prosecutors' case, saying among other things that their opening statement "has created a credibility gap that the defense can drive a truck through."
Martin did not return calls to her home or office and did not answer the door at her apartment.
Moussaoui, 37, has pleaded guilty for conspiring with al-
Qaida in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., are seeking his execution. If Brinkema forbids the death penalty, the case would end, and Moussaoui would be sentenced to life in prison, a huge setback for the government.
"This is the only opportunity for the government to make a Sept. 11 case. This is it. There isn't another," said Juliette Kayyem, a terrorism expert at Harvard University. "The government has to cross every t and dot every i to ensure that the Sept. 11 families finally have their day in court. If it gets messed up over a technicality . . . there is no excuse."
Robert P. Mosteller, a Duke University law professor, said ethical restrictions against speaking with witnesses are drilled into every attorney. "Lawyers don't do things like this," he said. "The federal rule on witnesses is elegant in its simplicity, and it's usually not something people get wrong."
Martin, an aviation security expert, had served as a liaison between prosecutors and witnesses expected to testify about airport security. She was working with government and defense witnesses and was not a member of the prosecution team. Brinkema told jurors before dismissing them for the day that prosecutors deserved "great credit" for reporting the error to her.
Defense attorneys accused Martin of trying to shape the testimony of key witnesses. "This is not going to be a fair trial anymore . . . because of what a lawyer did in an absolute abrogation of your rules," Edward B. MacMahon Jr., a defense attorney said, as he urged Brinkema to strike the death penalty.
James Cohen, a Fordham Law School professor and an expert in witness tampering, said dismissing the death penalty this time "might be too harsh a penalty." Other legal specialists said Brinkema might strike the testimony of the witnesses with whom Martin communicated. Those witnesses, three for the government and four for the defense, are expected to testify about what the government might have done to boost airport security if Moussaoui had confessed his knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot when he was arrested in August 2001.
Martin's e-mails strongly criticized the government's case, especially an assertion by prosecutors that, if Moussaoui had not lied to the FBI, the government could have stopped the Sept. 11 terror attacks by, among other things, having the FAA focus airport security on short-bladed knives. The Sept. 11 hijackers used such knives to take over four airplanes.
"There is no way anyone could say that the carriers could have prevented all short bladed knives from going through - [Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Novak] MUST elicit that from you and the airline witnesses on direct, and not allow the defense to cut your credibility on cross," Martin wrote.
Brinkema tipped her hand last week on how she felt about the death penalty for Moussaoui by suggesting the government wants him executed for what he did not do - alert the FBI about the plot.
"I don't know of any case where a failure to act is sufficient for the death penalty as a matter of law," she said.
As Moussaoui was led away at the end of the session, he shouted, "The show must go on!"