Zacarias Moussaoui Asks to Withdraw Plea, Cites Secret Evidence
Convicted al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui has asked a federal appeals court to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea because his lawyers were barred from sharing exculpatory information with him.
Moussaoui says the trial judge, Leonie Brinkema, made two mistakes that hurt his defense, Adam Liptak writes in his Sidebar column for the New York Times. The first was her ruling that Moussaoui could be defended only by lawyers who pass a government check. The second was her ruling that his lawyers could not give Moussaoui any classified information they learned.
The brief (PDF posted by the New York Times) said Moussaoui’s lawyers had advised him not to plead guilty, but they could not explain why because of the restrictions.
“Incredibly,” the brief said, “defense counsel had evidence specifically found to be material and exculpatory as to Moussaoui, but at the time of the plea his lawyers could not discuss that evidence or even tell Moussaoui it existed. No plea can be knowing and counseled under these circumstances.”
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers says in an amicus brief that the classified evidence problem is becoming an issue in ordinary criminal cases as well as terrorism cases.
