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Supreme Court Rejects 9/11 Plotters' Appeal Over Revoked Plea Deals
Confirmed
In Short: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other alleged 9/11 plotters, upholding the Pentagon's decision to revoke their plea agreements.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal brought by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, and Walid bin Attash, who are held at Guantanamo Bay and set to face trial.
The three men had agreed to a plea deal with military prosecutors in 2024, which would have given them life sentences in exchange for pleading guilty to all charges and undergoing a public sentencing hearing.
However, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the agreements in 2024, asserting that such a significant decision should rest with him.
The plea agreements had prompted a backlash from some groups representing 9/11 victims and their families.
The appeals court had ruled in favor of the government, allowing the withdrawal of the agreements on a 2-1 vote.
The Supreme Court did not provide an explanation in its decision on Monday.
Military courts had initially ruled that the plea agreements were 'valid and enforceable,' but the appeals court later upheld Austin's decision.
The agreements required the accused to plead guilty to all charges and undergo a public sentencing hearing where they would answer questions from family members and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.
The decision puts the case back in the hands of military courts that have struggled to set a trial.
The three men are accused of being key figures in the plot to crash hijacked planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.
A fourth alleged plotter, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, was not involved in the appeal.
The Supreme Court's decision clears the way for pretrial proceedings to continue, with a trial date set for summer 2028.
What's confirmed
- The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal brought by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, and Walid bin Attash, who are held at Guantanamo Bay and set to face trial.
- The three men had agreed to a plea deal with military prosecutors in 2024, which would have given them life sentences in exchange for pleading guilty to all charges and undergoing a public sentencing hearing.
- However, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the agreements in 2024, asserting that such a significant decision should rest with him.
- The plea agreements had prompted a backlash from some groups representing 9/11 victims and their families.
- The appeals court had ruled in favor of the government, allowing the withdrawal of the agreements on a 2-1 vote.
- The Supreme Court did not provide an explanation in its decision on Monday.
- Military courts had initially ruled that the plea agreements were 'valid and enforceable,' but the appeals court later upheld Austin's decision.
- The agreements required the accused to plead guilty to all charges and undergo a public sentencing hearing where they would answer questions from family members and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.
- The decision puts the case back in the hands of military courts that have struggled to set a trial.
- The three men are accused of being key figures in the plot to crash hijacked planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.
- A fourth alleged plotter, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, was not involved in the appeal.
- The Supreme Court's decision clears the way for pretrial proceedings to continue, with a trial date set for summer 2028.
What's still developing
- The court action removes one barrier to Mohammed standing trial before a military commission in 2028, where the death penalty is a possible punishment.
- A fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
- They argued, among other things, that the appeals court had no authority to intervene in the case.
- The plea deals were approved in 2024 by Susan Escallier, a retired brigadier general whom Austin appointed to oversee the military commissions’ handling of the detention cases.
- Only days after the agreements were announced, Austin assured himself to overturn the deals.
- "It would be one thing if a trial were reasonably likely in the near future, but even the current summer 2028 trial date is entirely unrealistic given how many issues remain to be resolved."
- Related video: "Always remember:" President Trump, leaders reflect on 25th anniversary of 9/11 By denying the appeals, the high court left in place a decision from an appeals court last year that found Austin, who worked for former President Joe Biden, "indisputably" had authority to cancel the agreements, which had taken the death penalty off the table for the three alleged conspirators.
- The pretrial agreements were announced in 2024 after more than two years of negotiation.