southsuburbs
What I Live By...
Do you think the Judge will declare a mistrial? Take the death penalty off the 'table'? Do nothing?
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/moussaou...ilZOXCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
Judge Weighs Next Steps in Moussaoui Trial
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writer
22 minutes ago
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Four federal aviation officials scheduled to testify in the sentencing trial of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui said Tuesday that improper coaching by a federal lawyer would not affect what they tell the jury, but the four disclosed new problems in the government's handling of witnesses.
The trial was in recess and the jury was absent Tuesday so U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema could hold a hearing to determine whether to end the government's bid to execute Moussaoui after the startling revelation a day ago that a federal attorney had used trial transcripts to coach seven upcoming trial witnesses.
Among the new problems revealed as the upcoming witnesses were questioned at the hearing:
_Government lawyers sent a letter Feb. 14 saying that at least three federal aviation officials sought as defense witnesses refused to talk to defense lawyers. But those three witnesses said they had never seen the letter and one of them said he would have been willing to talk to the defense.
_The offending federal attorney told one official, sought as a defense witness, that he was not to have contact with defense attorneys;
_Two of the witnesses read and watched news coverage of the week-old trial despite the judge's order they not follow the case;
_The government admitted it did not advise witnesses of the judge's order governing their conduct;
_A prosecutor conducted a joint telephone conversation with two witnesses at once, contrary to standard operating procedure;
_The offending federal attorney not only e-mailed seven witnesses about trial events but also told one person that the defense was trying to portray Moussaoui as "cuckoo."
As Robert White, a Transportation Security Administration intelligence liaison officer, was testifying that he had not seen the letter saying he was unwilling to talk to talk defense lawyers, Judge Brinkema interrupted the questioning.
"Did you see the subpoena issued for you?" she asked.
"No," White replied.
TSA intelligence analyst John Hawley and Matthew Kormann, an officer in the TSA intelligence service, also said they were unaware that a letter had been sent saying they refused to talk to the defense.
The attorney who prompted Tuesday's hearing without the jury present, Carla J. Martin of the Transportation Security Administration also was summoned. But her questioning was delayed when she told the judge she had not been able to arrange for her own lawyer. Brinkema had warned her that "you violated a court order and could be held in civil or criminal contempt," and directed her to return with a lawyer by Wednesday morning.
Martin had been the government attorney for these witnesses and worked with prosecutors on preparing evidence.
Brinkema said she was trying to determine "the extent to which the aviation witnesses have been tainted" by Martin's conduct. She did not say when she might rule.
Kormann testified earlier that he had no contact with defense attorneys even though they sought him as a witness, because Martin told him he "was not to have contact with the defense." Kormann testified he did not realize it was his decision rather than hers to decide whether to talk to the defense.
Kormann also testified that in addition to receiving an e-mail from Martin, she told him at a meeting last week about the defense's cross-examination of an FBI agent.
Claudio Manno, deputy chief of security for the Federal Aviation Administration on Sept. 11, 2001, and Pat McDonnell, who retired in May 2001 as FAA director of intelligence, both testified they had been reading and watching news accounts of the trial and were not told until last Friday that Brinkema had ordered witnesses not to follow the trial.
Kormann, McDonald, Manno and Manno's boss, Lynne Osmus, all denied in court that they would alter their testimony in any way as a result of being coached last week by Martin.
But Manno acknowledged under defense questioning that he had been reading and watching news coverage of the trial "up until I was told not to." That was on Friday, after the first week of testimony.
Defense lawyer Edward MacMahon also elicited testimony Tuesday that prosecutor David Novak had conducted a joint telephone conversation with two coming witnesses, despite long-standing prohibitions against trial witnesses interacting before they testify.
Novak told Brinkema the phone call, which apparently happened after the judge issued rules on witnesses on Feb. 22, concerned only the logistics of trial exhibits, not the substance of testimony.
Manno said under cross-examination that he had read at least two newspaper stories about the trial and watched four or five TV reports about it until he was told not to, apparently by the prosecution. Prosecutors then acknowledged they did not routinely advise witnesses to avoid media coverage in this court district but would start doing so now.
MacMahon asked Osmus if her testimony would be affected by receiving an e-mail last week in which Martin said the government's opening trial statement left gaps large enough "to drive a truck through."
"No, because I know what I know," she replied. Manno also said his testimony would not be shaped by the coaching.
MacMahon has moved to bar the government from pursuing the death penalty. If Brinkema does that, the sentencing trial would end. Moussaoui would automatically be given life in prison without the possibility of release. And the government would probably appeal.
Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaida to fly airplanes into U.S. buildings; this trial is to determine whether he will be executed or spend life behind bars.
The only person charged in this country in al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Moussaoui has denied having any role in those attacks. He says he was training for a possible future attack
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/moussaou...ilZOXCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
Judge Weighs Next Steps in Moussaoui Trial
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writer
22 minutes ago
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Four federal aviation officials scheduled to testify in the sentencing trial of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui said Tuesday that improper coaching by a federal lawyer would not affect what they tell the jury, but the four disclosed new problems in the government's handling of witnesses.
The trial was in recess and the jury was absent Tuesday so U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema could hold a hearing to determine whether to end the government's bid to execute Moussaoui after the startling revelation a day ago that a federal attorney had used trial transcripts to coach seven upcoming trial witnesses.
Among the new problems revealed as the upcoming witnesses were questioned at the hearing:
_Government lawyers sent a letter Feb. 14 saying that at least three federal aviation officials sought as defense witnesses refused to talk to defense lawyers. But those three witnesses said they had never seen the letter and one of them said he would have been willing to talk to the defense.
_The offending federal attorney told one official, sought as a defense witness, that he was not to have contact with defense attorneys;
_Two of the witnesses read and watched news coverage of the week-old trial despite the judge's order they not follow the case;
_The government admitted it did not advise witnesses of the judge's order governing their conduct;
_A prosecutor conducted a joint telephone conversation with two witnesses at once, contrary to standard operating procedure;
_The offending federal attorney not only e-mailed seven witnesses about trial events but also told one person that the defense was trying to portray Moussaoui as "cuckoo."
As Robert White, a Transportation Security Administration intelligence liaison officer, was testifying that he had not seen the letter saying he was unwilling to talk to talk defense lawyers, Judge Brinkema interrupted the questioning.
"Did you see the subpoena issued for you?" she asked.
"No," White replied.
TSA intelligence analyst John Hawley and Matthew Kormann, an officer in the TSA intelligence service, also said they were unaware that a letter had been sent saying they refused to talk to the defense.
The attorney who prompted Tuesday's hearing without the jury present, Carla J. Martin of the Transportation Security Administration also was summoned. But her questioning was delayed when she told the judge she had not been able to arrange for her own lawyer. Brinkema had warned her that "you violated a court order and could be held in civil or criminal contempt," and directed her to return with a lawyer by Wednesday morning.
Martin had been the government attorney for these witnesses and worked with prosecutors on preparing evidence.
Brinkema said she was trying to determine "the extent to which the aviation witnesses have been tainted" by Martin's conduct. She did not say when she might rule.
Kormann testified earlier that he had no contact with defense attorneys even though they sought him as a witness, because Martin told him he "was not to have contact with the defense." Kormann testified he did not realize it was his decision rather than hers to decide whether to talk to the defense.
Kormann also testified that in addition to receiving an e-mail from Martin, she told him at a meeting last week about the defense's cross-examination of an FBI agent.
Claudio Manno, deputy chief of security for the Federal Aviation Administration on Sept. 11, 2001, and Pat McDonnell, who retired in May 2001 as FAA director of intelligence, both testified they had been reading and watching news accounts of the trial and were not told until last Friday that Brinkema had ordered witnesses not to follow the trial.
Kormann, McDonald, Manno and Manno's boss, Lynne Osmus, all denied in court that they would alter their testimony in any way as a result of being coached last week by Martin.
But Manno acknowledged under defense questioning that he had been reading and watching news coverage of the trial "up until I was told not to." That was on Friday, after the first week of testimony.
Defense lawyer Edward MacMahon also elicited testimony Tuesday that prosecutor David Novak had conducted a joint telephone conversation with two coming witnesses, despite long-standing prohibitions against trial witnesses interacting before they testify.
Novak told Brinkema the phone call, which apparently happened after the judge issued rules on witnesses on Feb. 22, concerned only the logistics of trial exhibits, not the substance of testimony.
Manno said under cross-examination that he had read at least two newspaper stories about the trial and watched four or five TV reports about it until he was told not to, apparently by the prosecution. Prosecutors then acknowledged they did not routinely advise witnesses to avoid media coverage in this court district but would start doing so now.
MacMahon asked Osmus if her testimony would be affected by receiving an e-mail last week in which Martin said the government's opening trial statement left gaps large enough "to drive a truck through."
"No, because I know what I know," she replied. Manno also said his testimony would not be shaped by the coaching.
MacMahon has moved to bar the government from pursuing the death penalty. If Brinkema does that, the sentencing trial would end. Moussaoui would automatically be given life in prison without the possibility of release. And the government would probably appeal.
Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaida to fly airplanes into U.S. buildings; this trial is to determine whether he will be executed or spend life behind bars.
The only person charged in this country in al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Moussaoui has denied having any role in those attacks. He says he was training for a possible future attack