Military appeals court allows 9/11 plea deal to proceed after defense secretary moves to rescind it | Real Time Headlines

A U.S. military court on Monday upheld what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said was a judge’s ruling inappropriate behavior This year when he declared it invalid plea agreement Three men have been charged with planning the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Military Commission Review Court heard an appeal, trying to save Austin’s Moving in August Unraveling plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Mohammed Saleh Mubarak bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam Al-Khosawi . These agreements allow defendants to plead guilty to lesser charges and thereby avoid the death penalty.

The three-judge panel concluded that Austin did not have the authority to undo the agreement implemented by Susan Escaril, the convener of the military commission appointed by the defense secretary last year to oversee the agreement. negotiation.

The court said the defense secretary improperly reversed the deals after pretrial agreements had already begun.

Chief Judge Lisa M. Schenck wrote in her opinion that Austin’s interference with an existing pretrial agreement was “unprecedented” and two other justices agreed.

The Defense Department did not comment on Tuesday’s ruling.

The ruling affirms a lower court’s ruling last month that the three defendants should be allowed to move forward with plea deals. All three were charged with aiding, abetting and conspiring to carry out the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and other locations.

The ruling noted that attorneys notified the court of the plea agreement on Aug. 1.

“The responsibility for making a decision like this should be mine,” Austin said at the time.

The court said Austin’s retroactive annulment of such deals would be unjust and outside the scope of his powers. Military justice does not support the existence of a convening authority (in this case, Escalil) who can negotiate plea deals and a boss who can unravel them, the report said.