Moussaoui loses right to represent himself
Judge cites 'contemptuous language' in 9/11 defendant's pleadings
 |
Zacarias Moussaoui
Story Tools
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
(CNN) -- The federal judge presiding over the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui -- the lone U.S. defendant charged in connection to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- has revoked her permission for Moussaoui to represent himself.
"Based on the defendant's repeated violations of orders of this court, he has forfeited his right to represent himself any further in this case," said Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Brinkema ordered Friday that lawyers who have been assisting Moussaoui to prepare his defense since the beginning of the case, known as his standby counsel, will once again be the attorneys of record.
Brinkema said the court would only accept filings submitted by those attorneys. She gave Moussaoui 10 days to appeal her ruling.
Last week, the judge publicly warned Moussaoui that she would no longer let him act as his own attorney if he continued to file motions that were "frivolous, scandalous, disrespectful, or repetitive."
In her order, Brinkema cited two subsequent motions that provoked her punitive action.
"Both pleadings include contemptuous language that would never be tolerated from an attorney, and will no longer be tolerated from this defendant," Brinkema said. Those motions, along with more than 20 other recent Moussaoui filings, remain under seal.
Brinkema said in one of the new objectionable motions that Moussaoui asked for access to classified evidence to which "the defendant knows he is not entitled."
Frank Dunham, one of Moussaoui's court-appointed defense attorneys, said, "I don't know how this is going to affect things."
"It is not going to make him start talking to us," Dunham continued, referring to the frosty relationship between the attorneys and the defendant.
Moussaoui, 35, a French national of Moroccan heritage who is fluent in English, told the court in April 2002 that he wanted to fire his attorneys because he believed they were conspiring with the government to have him executed.
Two months later, after deeming Moussaoui mentally competent to handle himself in court, Brinkema allowed him to proceed as his own attorney, though she advised him against the move.
Dunham said he did not believe the decision would affect his job, as Brinkema all along has asked the defense team to be prepared to take charge of the case, and they have been preparing for trial.
U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, whose office is leading the prosecution, and Justice Department officials said they would have no comment on the decision.
Brinkema's move comes just a few weeks before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, hears arguments on her October ruling barring the prosecution from pursuing the death penalty against Moussaoui and from introducing any evidence of the September 11 attacks.
Brinkema imposed the sanctions on the Justice Department for refusing to make three al Qaeda captives available for testimony.
She agreed with the defense that Moussaoui's right to a fair trial hinged on access to Khalid Shaikyh Mohammed, the architect of the September 11 plot, Ramzi Binalshibh, one of its coordinators, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, one of the hijackers' financiers.
All three, who could offer exculpatory testimony, according to the judge and the defense, were captured in Pakistan during the past 14 months and remain in military custody overseas.
Their statements to interrogators, according to Brinkema, show Moussaoui, though an admitted member of al Qaeda, was a "minor participant" in the terror conspiracy in the United States.
From CNN's Phil Hirschkorn and Shannon Troetel in New York and Kevin Bohn and Terry Frieden Washington.
