Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin revoked the plea deal with the 9/11 masterminds.
Austin sent the memo to Susan Escallier, the convening authority for military commissions.
“I have determined that, in light of the significance decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009,” wrote Austin. “Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself.”
No plea deal means the death penalty is on the table.
The administration reached a deal with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi that took the death penalty off the table if they agreed to plead guilty to all charges.
The deal supposedly squashed what could have been a 12-18 month trial. The government supposedly faced “the possibility of the military judge throwing out confessions that were key to the government’s case.”
Austin was not in the country when the team made the plea deal.
Austin did not return until after prosecutors told the victims’ families about the plea deal.
From The New York Times:
A senior Pentagon official said that the decision was the secretary’s alone, and that the White House had no involvement. The official said Mr. Austin had never supported a plea deal and wanted the military commission trials to proceed.Mr. Austin’s action was met with disbelief by lawyers at Guantánamo Bay who were preparing for a hearing, possibly as soon as Wednesday, for the judge in the case, Col. Matthew N. McCall, to question Mr. Mohammed about whether he understood and voluntarily agreed with the plea.“If the secretary of defense issued such an order, I am respectfully and profoundly disappointed that after all of these years the government still has not learned the lessons of this case, and the mischief that results from disregarding due process and fair play,” said Gary D. Sowards, Mr. Mohammed’s lead defense counsel.
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