Moussaoui judge boosts prosecutors in new ruling

By Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge in the sentencing trial
of September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui restored a major
element in the government’s case on Friday in a ruling that new
witnesses could testify about aviation evidence.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema was a
boost to federal prosecutors who had said they did not know if
it was worth continuing the trial without the aviation
witnesses and evidence, since they represented such a major
portion of their case.

Earlier this week, Brinkema had delivered a crippling blow
to the government’s only case involving the airliner hijackings
that killed about 3,000 people when she threw out the crucial
aviation component.

Prosecutors had asked Brinkema to reconsider her decision
to bar testimony from six witnesses who were improperly
contacted by government lawyer Carla Martin and the
aviation-related evidence that Martin might have handled.

Prosecutors said much of the aviation testimony was
undisputed and they could find witnesses with whom Martin did
not discuss trial proceedings. The aviation testimony affects
about half the government’s case against Moussaoui.

Moussaoui, an al Qaeda member who has pleaded guilty to
conspiracy in the September 11 attacks, is on trial to see if
he will be executed or get life in prison.

The aviation testimony was expected to deal with how much
information the Federal Aviation Administration had about
possible threats to airlines and also discuss pre-September 11
security measures.

In her ruling, Brinkema said the prosecution could call
“untainted” aviation witnesses and produce “untainted physical
evidence.” But she gave limited parameters for the testimony.

WITNESS WRANGLE

In a court filing on Thursday, Moussaoui’s lawyers said it
would be difficult to find any witness who had not been
following the recent events in the highly publicized trial.

“The existence of such a person is difficult, if not
impossible to imagine and assurances that there is a rock at
the FAA under which that person has been found should be
greeted with the skepticism it plainly deserves,” they wrote.

Prosecutors are trying to prove that if Moussaoui had not
lied to the FBI when he was arrested three weeks before
September 11, the attacks might have been thwarted in part due
to heightened security efforts by the FAA.

Moussaoui, who was arrested after raising suspicions at a
flight school, said he was not involved in the September 11
hijackings but was to take part in a second wave of attacks.

When he pleaded guilty, Moussaoui signed a statement of
facts that said he knew of al Qaeda’s plans to fly airplanes
into buildings in the United States.

Brinkema said the new aviation witnesses can testify about
what the U.S. government “could” have done to prevent the
attacks if Moussaoui had told the FBI the facts that he
admitted when he pleaded guilty.

“The witness, or witnesses, may not, however, testify as to
what the United States government ‘would’ have done with this
information, as such testimony would be unduly speculative and
misleading to the jury,” Brinkema said.

The trial resumes on Monday.