Former Gitmo prosecutor likens 9/11 trial delay to 'Frankenstein's zombie court'
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and three alleged co-conspirators will finally stand trial in 2028, as the case against them has languished amid lengthy delays and a protracted process that one expert has likened to "Frankenstein's zombie court."
A military judge on Wednesday set the long-delayed trial for June 5, 2028, while establishing deadlines for the case. Much to the frustration of the loved ones of those who died during the attacks, Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators have been held at a military detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for more than two decades.
The problem, according to Michael Lebowitz, a former Guantánamo military commissions prosecutor, isn't the evidence against the terror suspects — it's the system.
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"It's the system and how it evolved and was created. And it's also an issue of Guantánamo Bay itself, where Gitmo is an adequate, albeit expensive, option for things like detaining suspected war criminals and even migrants," Lebowitz told Fox News Digital.
"The problem is that we used to call it the traveling circus because, in order to even conduct the smallest court hearing, everybody has to go to Washington, D.C., and get on an airplane," he continued. "I'm talking judges. I'm talking prosecutors, defense counsel, witnesses and court people."
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The case of Mohammed, as well as Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Ammar al-Baluchi, has been delayed for decades amid lengthy legal wrangling, including failed efforts to resolve the case through plea agreements.
The 2028 date sets a timetable for a case that has remained in pretrial proceedings for years as the military commission has addressed disputes over evidence and other legal issues before a trial on the merits can begin, Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Mohammed, a Pakistani citizen, is accused of masterminding the attacks in which hijackers crashed commercial airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overtake the hijackers.
The case has had more than 10 judges, Lebowitz said, meaning lawyers have had to keep relitigating the same "mundane" issues. Lebowitz, an Army veteran, participated in a number of cases in Guantanamo, including the 9/11 case and the bombing of the USS Cole.
"What I found was that the way the system has kind of been set up and how it evolved and turned into, it's essentially a candy store for defense lawyers, where the judges don't have teeth to control the courtroom like you would in federal court," he said. "It just goes from there where defense lawyers can really grease up the system and grease up the gears and really grind it to a halt."
One issue prosecutors will have to iron out is whether to seek the death penalty, Lebowitz said. Even if Mohammed and the other suspected terrorists are condemned to death, it's highly unlikely to be upheld, he said.
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"You're dealing with cases where, essentially, the defense lawyers would put the CIA on trial for their treatment of detainees after 9/11," he noted.
Despite some of the suspected 9/11 suspects finally getting their day in court, families of the victims also want Saudi Arabia to be held responsible.
"I think we’d ask the same question about the case against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whose agents supported al-Qaeda and the terrorist hijackers, too, after they arrived in the U.S., Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United, told Fox News Digital.
In 2024, Mohammed, bin Attash and al-Hawsawi agreed to admit their roles in the terror attacks in exchange for serving life sentences and avoiding the death penalty. While some 9/11 families supported the idea, others blasted the deal.
Amid the criticism, the Biden administration withdrew the plea deal, resulting in more litigation.
Fox News Digital's Brittany Miller contributed to this report.