A federal appeals court tossed out a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks, that would have prevented a lengthy death penalty trial.
In a 2-1 decision, judges for the D.C. Appeals Court said that the government “indisputably” had the authority to withdraw the plea deal – which a senior Pentagon official reached with Mohammed last year before former defense secretary Lloyd Austin intervened.
Under the plea deal, Mohammed and two co-defendants would have pleaded guilty to their roles in the terrorist plot in exchange for life in prison, avoiding the death penalty.
The agreement stirred controversy with 9/11 victims and the families of victims who wished to see Mohammed face the death penalty for helping orchestrate and carry out the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Before the deal could be finalized, Austin stepped in, saying he should have the final say, and withdrew it.
Friday’s ruling from the court means that the decades-long case against Mohammed, 61, will continue remaining in limbo.
It’s unlikely the ruling will send the case straight to trial at Guantánamo Bay. Mohammed and his co-defendants, Walid bin ‘Attash and Mustafa al Hawsawi, can appeal the decision or ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.
Additionally, the previous military judge who oversaw the case retired, the New York Times reported. This means a new judge will need to catch up on the substantial number of records in the case.
One of the reasons for the drawn-out pretrial proceedings is that defense attorneys argued the three co-defendants' 2007 and 2008 confessions were unlawfully obtained through the use of torture. Mohammed alone was waterboarded 183 times and subjected to physical abuse, sleep deprivation, and other “enhanced interrogation techniques” when he was captured in Pakistan in 2003.
For years, prosecutors and defense attorneys have been going back and forth about whether the use of evidence obtained through torture was admissible in court.
The delays have concerned some victims and victims families that the case will never go to trial and the men would die in prison without being convicted.
That may have been one of the motivating factors in the Pentagon official seeking a plea deal with the men.
