Appeals court temporarily blocks 9/11 plea deals

An appeals court on Thursday temporarily blocked a plea deal for three accused 9/11 plotters in a win for the Justice Department and Pentagon, which had requested this week that the court block the agreements ahead of a Friday hearing.

Judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a brief order granted the request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to block the plea deals for now, but they said the move was only to give time for a ruling on the issue.

The DOJ submitted a request to the court on Tuesday, asking the court to block a military appeals court decision allowing the plea deals to go into effect.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the stay Thursday just hours before a plea hearing was expected on Friday for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or KSM, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, and two of his accused conspirators, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al Hawsawi.

KSM and the two accused accomplices reached plea agreements for life sentences at the end of July, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overturned those at the beginning of August.

A military commissions judge, however, ruled that Austin did not have the authority to revoke the plea deals reached by a convening authority and approved by top officials at Guantánamo Bay, the facility in Cuba where KSM and his alleged accomplices are being held.

The U.S. appealed the order. But the military appeals court ruled against Austin at the end of December, leading to the DOJ, on behalf of the Pentagon, requesting the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to step in to stop the hearing.

In the filing Tuesday, the DOJ argued that Austin had clear authority to revoke the plea agreements and that the deals were repealed by him before any serious commitments had been made.

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