Angry judge puts Moussaoui trial on hold

Prosecutor: ‘Horrendously wrong’
Even prosecutor Novak conceded that the witness coaching was “horrendously wrong.”

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declined comment on the developments.

MacMahon said the government had told the defense that the TSA attorney had wanted the witnesses to be very careful in discussing the FBI agent’s acknowledgment that the FBI knew long before Sept. 11, 2001, that al-Qaida terrorists in the Philippines were working on a plan to fly an airplane into CIA headquarters.

The federal attorney also apparently told the witnesses — erroneously, Novak said — that the government was planning to say that magnetometers at airport check-ins are 100 percent effective.

Novak claimed there was no harm in that disclosure because the government is not going to make that argument.

Key witness on hold
Before the trial was recessed by Brinkema, the jury was to hear from the Minneapolis FBI agent who arrested Moussaoui — perhaps the key witness in the trial.

Special Agent Harry Samit’s testimony is equally important to prosecutors and the defense at Moussaoui’s sentencing trial. Samit, who has already testified for the prosecution, faced cross-examination.

Prosecutors say Samit and the FBI would have foiled the Sept. 11 attacks had Moussaoui confessed his membership in the al-Qaida terror network and his plans to hijack an airplane after he was arrested on Aug. 16, 2001, and interrogated by Samit.

The defense argues Moussaoui’s lies made no difference because Samit saw through them and was convinced Moussaoui was a threat.

Up to now the burden of proof was this: To obtain the death penalty, prosecutors must first prove that Moussaoui’s actions — specifically, his lies— were directly responsible for at least one death on Sept. 11.

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