Supreme Court Rejects Appeal From Alleged 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Over Revoked Plea Deals
Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and accomplices to restore plea agreements revoked by the Biden administration.
POLICY WIRE — Washington, United States — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices seeking to restore plea deals that military prosecutors agreed to before the Biden administration revoked them.
Through an unsigned order, the high court rejected petitions from Mohammed, Mustafa al Hawsawi, and Walid bin ‘Atash challenging a lower court ruling that stopped a military judge from enforcing pretrial arrangements established with military prosecutors in 2024 and subsequently canceled by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
By declining to take up the case, the federal government’s cancellation of the plea agreements stays intact, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh chose not to take part in reviewing the appeal.
Mohammed, Hawsawi, and bin ‘Atash were arrested in 2003 and faced military commission charges covering multiple offenses related to their alleged planning and execution of the September 11 terrorist attacks, with five of those charges carrying potential capital punishment.
The legal proceedings have faced extended delays centered on whether statements gathered through harsh questioning methods could be admitted as evidence, following the defendants’ detention in clandestine CIA facilities where they experienced enhanced interrogation techniques, or torture, prior to their 2006 transfer to Guantanamo Bay and subsequent formal charges in 2008.
Military attorneys initiated plea negotiations with the accused in 2023 after retired Brigadier General Susan Escallier took over as the Convening Authority for military commissions, culminating in 2024 agreements endorsed by Escallier, who supervises the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.
The negotiated terms required the defendants to enter guilty pleas for all offenses connected to the September 11 attacks in exchange for life sentences that would take the death penalty off the table, though Austin announced his cancellation of the arrangements shortly after their public release.
A military judge determined in November 2024 that Austin lacked the legal authority to invalidate the agreements, which would have kept the pacts active and binding, and a military appeals court subsequently ruled that Austin was barred from canceling the deals because the defendants had already started fulfilling a requirement of the terms.
Following those decisions, the Justice Department petitioned the D.C. Circuit to rule that Austin possessed valid authority to pull out of the pretrial agreements, leading the appellate court to rule in favor of the government last year by concluding that the defense secretary indisputably held the power to withdraw from the negotiations.
The D.C. Circuit panel stated that the Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
