Supreme Court backs Pentagon decision to throw out plea deals for 9/11 alleged conspirators
By John Fritze, CNN
(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to cancel plea agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants accused of plotting the 9/11 terror attack.
By denying the appeals, the high court left in place a decision from an appeals court last year that found Austin, who worked for former President Joe Biden, “indisputably” had authority to cancel the agreements, which had taken the death penalty off the table for the three alleged conspirators.
The decision puts the case back in the hands of military courts that have for years struggled to set a trial.
The agreements had prompted a backlash from some groups representing 9/11 victims and their families.
In separate appeals, Mohammed, Mustafa al Hawsawi, and Walid Bin ‘Attash argued that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overstepped its authority by siding with the government in the case.
“The practical effect of today’s denials of certiorari is to clear the way for the inexorable pre-trial proceedings in these cases to continue,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the justices to take up the appeals.
“It would be one thing if a trial were reasonably likely in the near future, but even the current summer 2028 trial date is entirely unrealistic given how many issues remain to be resolved.”
Trials against Mohammed and the others have been delayed for years as multiple presidential administrations have tried to determine how to handle the issue of the torture of individuals at CIA prisons, and the question of whether evidence obtained through torture was admissible in court.
The pretrial agreements were announced in 2024 after more than two years of negotiation. The agreements required that the accused plead guilty to all charges against them and undergo a public sentencing hearing in which they would be required to answer questions by family members and survivors of the September 11, 2001, attack.
Austin abruptly revoked those agreements two years ago, asserting that such a significant decision “should rest with me.” The Trump administration has continued to defend Austin’s decision to revoke the deals.
A military judge overseeing the trials of the three men ruled in 2024 that the plea agreements were “valid and enforceable.” A military appeals court ruled against Austin weeks later.
The agreements had prompted a backlash from some groups representing 9/11 victims and their families.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself from consideration of the case.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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