Federal Prosecutors Close to Blowing Moussaoui Trial
Keep in mind that he’s pleaded guilty, and this is only about whether he gets the death penalty, but still:
A federal judge indicated today that she might throw out the death penalty case against Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui after prosecutors disclosed that a government attorney had violated the court’s rules about discussing witness testimony.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema called it “the most egregious violation of the court’s rules on witnesses” she had seen “in all the years I’ve been on the bench.”
Her comments came after prosecutors said a Federal Aviation Administration attorney had discussed the testimony of FAA witnesses with them before they took the stand and also arranged for them to read a transcript of the government’s opening statement in the case. Both actions were banned by the judge in a pre-trial order.
The government was already in the doghouse with the judge:
With the jury out of the courtroom, Brinkema then recessed the trial in order to decide what to do. “This is the second significant mistake by the government affecting the constitutional rights of this defendant and . . . impacting the criminal justice system in this country,” she said. “In the context of a death case, I have to think about this issue.”
Brinkema was referring to a rebuke she gave the government on Thursday after prosecutors questioned why Moussaoui had not contacted the FBI to offer information after he was jailed in Minnesota in August 2001. At the time, Moussaoui had stopped speaking with agents and had asked for an attorney, and defense lawyers said the prosecution’s question violated Moussaoui’s constitutional rights against incriminating itself.
Brinkema warned the government on Thursday that it was “treading on very delicate legal ground.”
If the death penalty is thrown out, it will be the second time…
Five years, nearly, since 9/11, and here’s where we are…sigh…
On the 1 inch line … after moving the ball 99 yards, 2 feet, 11 inches … and some dumbass lawyer that isn’t even part of the prosecution team can’t keep her damn fingers off her keyboard … JHFC, FMTT! And they won’t even be able to fire her … the government service unions make the teachers’ union look wimpy.
I’m not sure career gov attorneys are ever subject to unions as you describe but I’ve got to think she could be subject to disbarrment, if not from the bar association at least to the federal court where this travesty took place. Could even the gov not fire an attorney now unable to practice law? Mebbe so, mebbe so. But this is truly infuriating. Simple, simple stuff. No witness coaching. Who, in this day of Law and Order and CSI could be ignorant of this principle? Astonishing and if Moussai walks…. What’s the latinism for exposure in stocks? We might need to brush that up.