Supreme Court Denies Bid to Revive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Plea Deal

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort to revive a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The agreement would have spared Mohammed the risk of execution in exchange for his guilty plea and a sentence of life in prison without parole.

The Rejection of the Appeal

The court issued a brief, unsigned opinion stating it would not take up the appeal brought by Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself from the decision. According to the New York Post, there were no noted dissents from the high court’s rejection.

The plea agreements were struck in 2024 during the administration of President Joe Biden. They were approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon’s senior official for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. However, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin threw out the deal, saying a decision on the death penalty in an attack as grave as Sept. 11 should only be made by the defense secretary.

Legal Authority and Trial Schedule

Defense attorneys argued that Austin acted too late to revoke the agreements. A divided appeals court panel found Austin acted within his authority. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the government, a decision the Supreme Court left in place.

CNN legal analyst Steve Vladeck said, "The practical effect of today’s denials of certiorari is to clear the way for the inexorable pre-trial proceedings in these cases to continue," as the case returned to military courts.

Mohammed, also known as "KSM," has been held at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006. He is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The trial is scheduled to begin in June 2028.

Victim Families and Torture Concerns

Relatives of the Sept. 11 victims were split on the agreements for Mohammed and two co-defendants. Some said a trial is the best path to justice, while others saw it as the best hope for bringing the long, painful case to a conclusion.

Much of the legal jousting in the September 11 defendants’ cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone torture at the hands of the CIA. As recently as August, a military judge threw out statements Mohammed made about the attacks to the FBI in 2007, ruling they were not voluntarily given.

Why it matters

The Supreme Court’s decision removes a significant legal barrier to the prosecution of the September 11 defendants. By leaving the defense secretary’s authority to revoke the plea deals intact, the court has ensured that the defendants face the possibility of the death penalty in a military commission trial. This outcome prolongs a legal process that has been delayed for nearly 25 years due to disputes over evidence obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques.

---

Sources

• abcnews.com: Supreme Court rejects effort to revive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed plea deal - ABC News
• scmp.com: US Supreme Court denies bid by accused 9/11 mastermind to revive plea deal | South China Morning Post
• nbcnews.com: Supreme Court rejects alleged 9/11 mastermind’s attempt to revive plea deal
• nypost.com: Supreme Court slaps down bid by notorious 9/11 mastermind KSM to revive infamous plea deal
• newscord.org: Supreme Court Rejects Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Bid To Revive 9/11 Plea Deal: 8 outlets compared | NewsCord
• julesburgadvocate.com: Supreme Court rejects effort to revive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed plea deal

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.