Judge: Moussaoui competent to plead guilty
on Apr 20, 2005 at 7:28 pm
(Note: The Supreme Court on March 21 refused to hear an appeal in this case.)
The federal judge presiding over the only criminal case brought in the U.S. for the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, ruled on Wednesday that Zacarias Moussaoui “is fully competent to plead guilty to the indictment.” She scheduled a “change of plea hearing” for Friday afternoon in Alexandria, Va.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema did not spell out the reasons for her ruling on competency. Her brief order said she had given those reasons during a closed-door hearing on Tuesday, with lawyers for both sides on hand. The docket entry on that hearing implied that Moussaoui had not appeared personally, since it said he had appeared through counsel.(The case is U.S. v. Moussaoui, docket 01-455.)
Earlier in the day, the District Court had announced the change of plea hearing. The announcement said explicitly that the judge would accept a plea of guilty, but gave no further details. Various news organizations have been reporting this week, from unnamed legal sources, that Moussaoui had written to the judge, agreeing to plead guilty.
Because Brinkema’s order found him competent to plead guilty “to the indictment,” that appeared to be an indication that he has told her he will admit guilt on all six conspiracy counts against him. The government seeks the death penalty on four of those charges. There have been no public indications of any plea bargain between prosecutors and Moussaoui, and news stories have suggested that his court-appointed lawyers have indicated they opposed a guilty plea.
So far, the public record in the case does not reflect Moussaoui’s actual motives for changing his not guilty plea and going to trial. One news account, in the Los Angeles Times, suggested that he had done so in the belief that a guilty plea would allow him to appeal to the Supreme Court — perhaps by entering a conditional guilty plea. In the past, however, prosecutors have said they would resist any conditional plea.
When Moussaoui in July 2002 offered a guilty plea, later withdrawn, he told the judge in open court: “I want the people to hear what I have to say, what are my responsibility, what I came to the United States for, what I did in the United States…” He said then he would plead guilty on the first four counts — the ones containing a death penalty. But he also said that he was pleading guilty as the best chance to save his life. His explanation then was that he would not admit to all of the facts alleged in the indictment — thus perhaps undermining the basis for a death sentence. The judge advised him that, if she accepted his guilty plea, there would be a sentencing hearing before a jury, on the death penalty question.
