A military appeals court has ruled against the Defense Secretary’s effort to throw out the plea deals reached for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants in the 9/11 attacks (previous coverage available here).
The decision puts back on track the agreements that would have the three men plead guilty to one of the deadliest attacks on the United States in exchange for being spared the possibility of the death penalty.
Military prosecutors and defense attorneys for Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the attacks, and two co-defendants reached the plea agreements after two years of government-approved negotiations. The deals were announced late last summer.
Within days of news of the plea deal this summer, the Defense Secretary issued a brief order saying he was nullifying them. Defense lawyers said the Defense Secretary had no legal authority to reject a decision already approved by the Guantanamo court’s top authority and said the move amounted to unlawful interference in the case.
The Defense Secretary now has the option of taking his effort to throw out the plea deals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.