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Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified

Bump and Update: Check out the description of the e-mails contained on pages 12 to 14 of the Motion to Dismiss (pdf) filed by the defense today. It is absolutely shocking.

Update: CBS provides the actual emails (pdf) which were released by the Judge today.

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The New York Times identifies the Government lawyer in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial who violated the Court's sequestration order as Carla J. Martin, Senior Trial Attorney for the Transportation Security Administration. A hearing will be held tomorrow on the improper sharing of information with seven trial witnesses, as disclosed by prosectors in the trial earlier today.

Who is Carla J. Martin? She has appeared in Moussaoui pleadings before, such as this one (pdf), ironically seeking to prevent document disclosure to the defense. During the Pan Am flight 103 trial, she sought to close the courtroom during testimony of security procedures. (The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), 4/28/92, available on Lexis.com.) She sure doesn't seem like a stranger to the issues at hand.

Update: The AP reports on Ms. Martin's actions. It's inconceivable to me that she didn't know better.

Martin's e-mails to the upcoming witnesses included excerpts of the government's opening statement and Martin's assessment that the opening statement "has created a credibility gap that the defense can drive a truck through." She expressed concern that FAA witnesses would be made to look foolish on cross-examination and warned them to be prepared for certain topics.

[Judge] Brinkema said the violation was compounded by the fact that Martin e-mailed the witnesses jointly, violating standard practice against joint interviews of witnesses.

The prosecution is suggesting this fix:

Of the seven witnesses whose testimony was potentially tainted, three were expected to be government witnesses and four were expected to be defense witnesses. Novak suggested that, in lieu of dismissal, perhaps two of the government's witnesses should be excluded from trial and the defense could present its FAA witness evidence through a stipulation rather than by testimony, meaning the defense witnesses would not be subject to cross-examination.

My view: This case is toast. The Judge now has to exclude all of the Government's witnesses, and these witnesses were the Government's only hope of winning the death case. All of them were tainted by receiving Martin's assessment of the case and suggested strategies for their testimony.

The Judge should toss the death penalty now and set a date to sentence Moussaoui herself. It's not the Government's first misconduct in this case.

Brinkema said she also would reconsider the defense's request of last week for a mistrial - made after a question from Novak suggested to the jury that Moussaoui might have had an obligation to confess his terrorist connections to the FBI even after he had invoked his right to an attorney.

She noted that when Novak asked the question Thursday, she ruled it out of order after the defense said the question should result in a mistrial. The judge warned the government at that point that it was treading on shaky legal ground because she knew of no case where a failure to act resulted in a death penalty as a matter of law.

"This is the second significant error by the government affecting the constitutional rights of this defendant and, more importantly, the integrity of the criminal justice system in this country," Brinkema said Monday.

I don't think the Judge should declare a mistrial and allow the Government to begin again with a new jury when its witnesses have been so tainted. They've been coached and they are not likely to forget it. I think she needs to declare a mistrial and dismiss the death penalty count -- and then sentence Moussaoui herself on his guilty plea. It's what should have happened in the first instance.

I can't wait to see which former prosecutors go on tv tonight and try to salvage the Government's case.

Update: Forbes.

Update: The Prosecution's response to the Defense motion to dismiss the death penalty charge is here (pdf.)

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  • Display: Sort:
    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 01:44:22 PM EST
    Does anyone else see the problem that the lawyer for the TSA is illegally leaking inforamtion to witnesses but we are supposed to believe that the administration will keep all our travel and other private info secret?

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 05:15:43 PM EST
    Ugh. Not only should she have known better, but what she did is potentially grounds for disciplinary action by the bar. I used to work for an attorney who sat on a state bar's disciplinary committee. I would type her letters of finding to the complainants and respondents. The committee kicked lawyers out of the profession for a lot less than this. At the least this taxpayer funded shoemaker should lose her job.

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:27:18 PM EST
    One more reason not to believe or trust anything this administration says or does. ANYTHING.

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:42:41 PM EST
    I love the prosecution's defense, we didn't act in bad faith, we are inept.

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#5)
    by scarshapedstar on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:54:53 PM EST
    I love the prosecution's defense, we didn't act in bad faith, we are inept.
    Hmm... now where have I heard that defense before...

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#6)
    by nolo on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 07:18:22 PM EST
    That's just incredible. The lawyer ought to be subject to disciplinary sanctions.

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#7)
    by jimcee on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 07:31:36 PM EST
    The remedy for this stupidity is to let the judge sentence this obviously mad fellow to what she feels is proper. IMHO, life in prison w/ no parole is about right. Mr Moussasaoui seems like a very mentally ill man and could use some pychiatric care while he is in prison.

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#8)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 07:47:06 PM EST
    Who's insane?

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 08:47:17 PM EST
    Does this constitute a mistrial?

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 09:01:51 PM EST
    Posted by All Writs March 13, 2006 07:42 PM I love the prosecution's defense, we didn't act in bad faith, we are inept. As if they're mutually exclusive with this crew. Posted by jimcee March 13, 2006 08:31 PM
    The remedy for this stupidity is to let the judge sentence this obviously mad fellow to what she feels is proper. IMHO, life in prison w/ no parole is about right.
    Mr Moussasaoui seems like a very mentally ill man and could use some pychiatric care while he is in prison.
    Out of the mouth of babes. A sensible solution from an unlikely source. Clearly, this guy doesn't know which end is up. He was so integral to the plot that al qaida didn't even know he'd been arrested until after 9/11. He's a wannabe. A liability to the cause. Send him out on a useless errand just to keep him outta the way. You can't trust him with valuable information because he'll screw it up, so tell him just enough to make him think he's got important info. That way if he spills the beans under interrogation, he'll think he's giving up important info and the Americans will think he's giving up important info when he's giving up nothing at all and the bush leaguers will go for it hook, line and sinker. It's perfect.

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 09:33:16 PM EST
    Um, hello, who gives a frig about moussaoui. As jim would tell you, I'm paranoid. But does this not tell us exactly why she did what she did? Martin not only sent the transcripts but in an e-mail to the witnesses expressed her concern about errors in the government's opening regarding the FAA and "how it could have caught the hijackers and prevented 9/11." It's got nothing to do with the trial, it's all about covering Bushes ass. They don't want any kind of talk about what happened leading up to 9/11, what happened during, and immediately after, because it makes bush look like a failure. Well, he is a failure as a President, but as the enabler of the greatest looting of a nation ever, he's doing a heckuva job.

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#12)
    by jimcee on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 10:02:27 PM EST
    CDS1, Golly! gee-whiz! We agree on something...I think... So what's with the faux street talk?

    Re: Moussaoui: Government Lawyer Identified (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 10:29:16 PM EST
    Mr Duckman, the shrub looks like a failure ship sailed a long time ago. While, perhaps not to the same extent as you, I share your complete and utter contempt for this crew.