Judge Leonie Brinkema has announced that she will accept a compromise submitted by the prosecution in the death penalty case against convicted al-Qaeda terrorist Zacarius Moussaoui.
The compromise will allow the prosecutor to call some witnesses to testify on aviation security but not any who were tainted by contact with Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin who Brinkema cited for misconduct earlier this week.
'The government's proposed alternative remedy of allowing it to call untainted aviation witnesses or otherwise produce evidence not tainted by Ms. Martin has merit,' Brinkema wrote in her decision on Friday.
Prosecutors had claimed it would be a waste of time to continue the death penalty case against Moussaoui without any aviation security testimony. As of Thursday, Brinkema held that testimony on aviation security was tainted 'beyond repair.'
Meanwhile, Martin's attorney, Roscoe Howard, said Thursday Ms. Martin had been 'viciously vilified by assertions from the prosecution' and is preparing a response he said 'will show a very different, full picture of her intentions, her conduct and her tireless dedication to a fair trial.'
Judge Brinkema said Martin's actions represented one of the worst acts of misconduct she had seen from the bench.
To obtain a death penalty sentence against Moussaoui, prosecutors must convince the jury that the defendant's actions led directly to at least one death on September 11. If the death penalty is not invoked, Moussaoui will receive a life sentence.
The reversal by Judge Brinkema is almost certain to lead to an appeal by Moussaoui if he is sentenced to death.
