Updated January 09, 2025 at 14:22 PM ET
This is a developing story.
In a move that could help bring an end to the September 11th terrorism case, which has dragged on for more than two decades without going to trial, a federal appeals court may issue a ruling today on whether alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants can plead guilty at a U.S. military court in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
An admission of guilt -- reached in the final days of the Biden administration as it races to shrink Guantánamo's prison population before leaving office -- would let Mohammed and his accomplices forgo a trial and escape the risk of the death penalty. Instead, they would receive sentences of up to life in prison. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opposes those deals, saying the case should proceed to trial.
The appeals court ruling would be the latest development in a complicated legal saga that began in summer 2024, when the military court announced a huge breakthrough in the stalled case: It had reached plea deals with the 9/11 defendants following more than two years of negotiations. Yet 48 hours later, Austin shocked the Guantánamo community by reversing those deals.
He said he had been blindsided by them, even though his own prosecutors have said plea deals are the best resolution.
Austin was later overruled by two military courts, including a review panel, which concluded he does not have the authority to retroactively cancel plea deals. That sent the Pentagon scrambling to find another way to halt the upcoming plea hearings. Mohammed is scheduled to plead guilty Friday and two of his alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are scheduled to plead guilty next week. A third alleged accomplice, Ammar al-Baluchi (also known as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali), has not reached a tentative plea deal and a fourth, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial so his case is in limbo.
In its latest effort to halt the pleas, the Pentagon settled on a legal maneuver in which the Justice Department asked the appellate court to order the court at Guantánamo to cancel the pleas. It has also asked the appeals court to delay the upcoming plea hearings if the court wants more time to deliberate over the cancellation request.
Georgetown University law professor Stephen Vladeck, who closely follows Guantánamo legal proceedings, said defense attorneys for Guantánamo prisoners have often asked a federal court to intercede in their cases, although they usually lose. But he said it is rare for prosecutors to make such a move, especially after being defeated in lower courts.
"To call it unusual is a vast understatement," Vladeck said. "We've had the military commissions in some way, shape or form now for over 20 years, and we haven't had a case like this before."
No matter how the appeals court rules, Vladeck and other attorneys said the 9/11 case is eventually likely to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, the next step after a federal appeals court ruling. That could cause the case to drag on for years more.
That frustrates former military commissions lawyer Ian Moss, who now works in private practice.
"You've had two courts find that Austin was without authority to do what he did. That should be the end of it," he said.
By not accepting plea deals, Moss added, the government is squandering a chance to end a dysfunctional case that doesn't seem to have an end in sight otherwise, and to get closer to President Biden's goal of closing Guantánamo.
"This is essentially snatching victory from the jaws of self-defeat," he said. "After so long with no to minimal progress, there's finally an opportunity to have a resolution and closure."
The 9/11 case has been unable to progress to trial for several reasons, including the cumbersome nature of conducting the proceedings on a Caribbean island, ongoing arguments over what rules apply to the military court, and fights over classified material. The case has also been severely handicapped because the 9/11 defendants were tortured in secret CIA prisons, often making evidence such as confessions inadmissible.
Amid these decades of legal chaos, the family members of 9/11 victims have wrestled with increasing feelings of frustration, exhaustion and disillusionment. Some are angry that plea deals might happen, depriving them of government secrets they believe could be exposed during a trial. Some want the men put to death. Others simply want the case to end and would be content with guilty pleas and life prison sentences.
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