U.S. gives Moussaoui secret files by mistake Reuters News Service WASHINGTON -- The government gave 48 classified documents to accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui by mistake in what the judge in his case called a grave security breach, according to court records released Thursday. The classified documents, which were FBI summaries of interviews, then had to be retrieved during several days of searches of Moussaoui's jail cell in Alexandria, Va., where he is being held in solitary confinement awaiting trial. The classified documents were given to Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States for the hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, by mistake over the past few months as part of the evidence turned over to him by federal government prosecutors. Moussaoui, who is acting as his own lawyer, is not allowed to see classified documents. A Justice Department official said the government was "quite confident" that Moussaoui never read the documents. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is presiding over the case, cited the gravity of the security breach in ordering the material to be retrieved. ---------------------
Un-f*cking-believable. Is it possible that this could lead to a mistrial? That would be a can of worms.
Sheesh. I'm starting to think we really SHOULD just drop bombs all over the place. Our nation stinks at doing anything civilized to bring people to justice. edit: nice thread title, by the way.
I seriously doubt it. Even though he is acting as his own lawyer, the court has a team of lawyers available to him and those lawyers are being made privy to the sensitive documents. A mistrial would be a serious danger were he not permitted to use the documents in tailoring his defense. That is not happening here. I doubt a mistrial will result.
Yeah, it didn't prejudice the defense or the jury, so there's no reason for a mistrial because of that. THere is article in the New yorker thsi weak about the trial though and it appears that his mental illness is spiraling out of control in open court. That is more likely to cause a mistrial than anything else. Incidentaly it also quoted many sources in the Gov't who stated that he was definitely not the 20th hijacker or even an alternate, he was just kind of a wierd wannabe type who wanted to be part of 9-11 but wasn't asked to join in. Apparenlty he tried to join militants in CHechnya but they kicked him out because he was useless.
This judge has done everything possible to ensure that Moussaoui's rights are protected, up to and including invalidating a clear plea of guilty. Even though he is mentally ill, he has an absolute right to refuse legal counsel...which he has chosen to do. The judge then took the unusual step of keeping his court appointed lawyers on retainer just in case. I doubt any mistrial will occur for any reason here.
The real reason why there won't be a mistrial is that there isn't even a jury, it hasn't been impaneled yet, so there's nobody to prejudice, = no mistrial. If he's too mentally ill to make informed decisions about his own defense (which the judge has not been inclined to find yet but may change bc of his allegedly worsening condition) then he doesn't have the right to choose his own counsel. (BTW, its been reported that his paranoia is focused on his defense lawyers more than anybody else) If he keeps having crazy outbursts and the judge had to gag him like she threatened too, it really woldn't work out because he wouldn't be able to make objections, etc. or conduct his own defense. Since the case is in pretrial stages most of the stuff he does now is written so the judge can ignore the delusional parts (all of which is now filed under seal). What's most likely is a plea bargain; the government set its sights too high with its ambitious indictment (which was drawn up before we caught the supposed real 20th hijacker, that guy from a couple of weeks ago); and they can't risk a loss here.
