Prosecutors Scramble to Salvage 9/11 Case After Ruling
By Jerry MarkonWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, March 16, 2006; A10
Federal prosecutors yesterday implored a judge to reverse her decision banning key witnesses from testifying at the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, saying the misconduct of a government lawyer they labeled a "lone miscreant" should not imperil the case.
Calling it unprecedented and "grossly punitive," prosecutors said her ruling devastates their argument that Moussaoui should be executed for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema on Tuesday barred seven witnesses and all aviation security evidence from the trial, saying the actions of Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin had tainted the process beyond repair.
At a minimum, prosecutors urged Brinkema to let them present a portion of the disputed evidence through a new witness who had no contact with Martin. A veteran government lawyer, Martin shared testimony and communicated with the seven witnesses in violation of a court order and committed what Brinkema called other "egregious errors."
"The evidence goes to the very core of our theory of the case," the prosecutors wrote in a motion for reconsideration, filed late yesterday. "Accordingly, the public has a strong interest in seeing and hearing it, and the court should not eliminate it from the case."
After her ruling Tuesday, prosecutors told Brinkema in a teleconference that she had threatened the sentencing phase of the only person convicted in the United States on charges stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer told her that resuming the proceedings, which began last week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria and are on hold until Monday, would "waste the jury's time.">>>cont
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Federal prosecutors yesterday implored a judge to reverse her decision banning key witnesses from testifying at the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, saying the misconduct of a government lawyer they labeled a "lone miscreant" should not imperil the case.
Calling it unprecedented and "grossly punitive," prosecutors said her ruling devastates their argument that Moussaoui should be executed for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema on Tuesday barred seven witnesses and all aviation security evidence from the trial, saying the actions of Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin had tainted the process beyond repair.
At a minimum, prosecutors urged Brinkema to let them present a portion of the disputed evidence through a new witness who had no contact with Martin. A veteran government lawyer, Martin shared testimony and communicated with the seven witnesses in violation of a court order and committed what Brinkema called other "egregious errors."
"The evidence goes to the very core of our theory of the case," the prosecutors wrote in a motion for reconsideration, filed late yesterday. "Accordingly, the public has a strong interest in seeing and hearing it, and the court should not eliminate it from the case."
After her ruling Tuesday, prosecutors told Brinkema in a teleconference that she had threatened the sentencing phase of the only person convicted in the United States on charges stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer told her that resuming the proceedings, which began last week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria and are on hold until Monday, would "waste the jury's time.">>>cont
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