The Judge in the Moussaoui case has accepted a compromise with prosecutors:
The federal judge in the death penalty trial of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui accepted a government compromise Friday that will allow prosecutors to present new witnesses about aviation security
Judge Leonie Brinkema in a written order said prosecutors could present exhibits and a witness or witnesses if they are untainted by contact with Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin, cited by Brinkema for misconduct earlier this week when the judge decided to exclude all aviation security evidence
Now that that is about over, there is a new scandal emerging in 9/11 cases.
Lawyers for two airlines being sued by 9/11 victims prompted a federal attorney to coach witnesses in the Zacarias Moussaoui death penalty trial so the government’s case against the al-Qaida conspirator would not undercut their defense, victims’ lawyers allege.
A United Airlines lawyer received a transcript of the first day of the Moussaoui trial from an American Airlines lawyer and forwarded it to Carla J. Martin, a Transportation Security Administration lawyer, the victims’ lawyers, Robert Clifford and Gregory Joseph, claim.
Martin forwarded that day’s transcript to seven federal aviation officials scheduled to testify later in the sentencing trial of the 37-year-old Frenchman, in violation of an order by Moussaoui trial judge Leonie Brinkema.
This looks like nothing more than a case of protecting our businesses to me. The fact that these prosecutors have made these grave misjudgments in their actions should spark an investigation into disbarring them.
You think of the Republicans saying our justice system is under attack by “activist judges” and then news like this comes out. It isn’t activist judges, it is attorneys with no ethics that are the problem. So an important question now arises – can our federal prosecutors handle cases like this? It is a question that seriously needs look at.