United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui

The Center filed an amicus brief in support of the decision permitting Moussaoui prosecution while protecting due process.

Background

In August, 2001, Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges. Four months later, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a federal indictment against Moussaoui for conspiracy to commit terrorism. Moussaoui faced the death penalty for his alleged involvement in al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks. Moussaoui admits that he is part of al Qaeda and intended to commit future terrorist acts, but maintains that he was not involved with the September 11th plot. According to news reports citing government sources, the government has captured several high-level al Qaeda members who planned the attacks, including unindicted co-conspirators Ramzi bin al Shieb and Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi, as well as Khalid Sheik Mohammed. These individuals have reportedly told their interrogators that Moussaoui was not involved with September 11th.

District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema's Decision

District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema examined information from these interrogations, and ruled that these individuals could provide testimony that would help Moussaoui's defense. The government informed Judge Brinkema that it would not make these individuals available for testimony. In response, Judge Brinkema ruled that the prosecution can go forward against Moussaoui, but that the government may not seek to prove that Moussaoui was involved in September 11th, and thus may not seek the death penalty against him. The government appealed this decision to the court of appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The Center's Amicus Brief

The Center filed an amicus brief in this case, asking that the Fourth Circuit affirm Judge Brinkema's decision. This brief argues that fundamental fairness prohibits the government from seeking the death penalty against someone while denying him access to witnesses in the government's control who would testify that he did not do what the government accuses him of doing. Judge Brinkema's ruling appropriately protects the three key interests at stake here:

• It protects the government's asserted national security interest by permitting the government to continue holding the al Qaeda witnesses incommunicado.
• It protects the public interest in law enforcement by permitting the government to continue to prosecute and seek severe penalty against Moussaoui.
• It protects the constitutional interest in according Moussaoui a fair trial.

The only interest that Judge Brinkema's decision does not accommodate is the Justice Department's interest in seeking the death penalty against Moussaoui. But any desire to secure a death penalty cannot override a defendant's due process right to a fair trial. Indeed, a defendant's need for a fair trial is at its greatest in a capital case.

For the complete filings in United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui please see Findlaw or the case docket on the website for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.