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PLEADING GUILTY? AN INDICTMENT OF A SYSTEM OF JUSTICE
Tortured Guantanamo Bay prisoner's plead guilty to 9/11 crimes - Murderdom?
December 08, 2008
By
Rachel Maddow
(View author info)
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| Guantanamo, Cuba - SUMMARY:
9/11 Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Plead Guilty at Death Penalty Hearing. Murderdom?
When are confessions to unspeakable crimes not a triumph of justice but instead an indictment of a system of justice?
Khalid Sheikh Muhammad - a Guntanamo Bay prisoner accused of 9/11 crimes against the United States by President George W. Bush's Military War Crimes Tribunal Court at Guantanamo and tortured by the CIA wrote to the military judge, "We don't want want to waste our time with motions. All of you are all paid by the American government. I'm not trusting any American." VIDEO:
TRANSCRIPT:
MADDOW: When are confessions to unspeakable crimes not a triumph of justice but instead an indictment of a system of justice? Maybe right now, maybe today, the crimes were the attacks of September 11th.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay today told a military judge that they want to plead guilty to planning the 9/11 attacks. The request came to light at a war crimes tribunal hearing early today. The judge said he received a joint statement from the prisoners written on November 4th, when the group announced its plans. Now, November 4th. November 4th? Why does that ring a bell? Oh, yes, that would be the day Barack Obama was elected to be the next president of United States. The day America elected a president who was expected to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and is expected to close the military tribunal system that has been set up for the prisoners held at Guantanamo.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed today told the judge, quote, "We don't want to waste our time with motions. All of you are paid by the U.S. government. I'm not trusting any American," end quote. No real surprise there, of course. But what explains why Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh and the other 9/11 suspects, what explains why they picked Election Day to say they did not want to contest these tribunals, that they wanted to just plea guilty? Could it be that they want to beat the clock? They want to make sure they are convicted and probably executed under Bush's tribunal system because that feels more like martyrdom to them than risking going into an actual non-kangaroo court trial in a real legal system? Joining us now is Jonathan Turley, professor of law at George Washington University. Professor Turley, Jonathan, nice to see you. Thanks for joining us.
PROF. JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Hi, Rachel.
MADDOW: After being held at Guantanamo for years, these war crimes tribunals ongoing, suddenly these prisoners have made offers to plead guilty. Do you have any understanding of why they might have done this strategically?
TURLEY: Well, trying to go through the minds of some of these individuals is a rather precarious task. What I can say is that I don't see any intelligent design theory that would fit this situation. I mean, what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed just did is to hand George Bush a considerable victory. We were very close in his case to addressing the fact that he was tortured and that he has raised a legitimate, or as attorneys have, command influence, that his case was putting a spotlight on the gross unfairness of the Bush tribunal system. And he essentially took all that off the table and saved the Bush administration the need to answer to those charges. So, the result is, rather strange for a mastermind. I mean, this really proves he's not just a murderous mastermind, but he's probably a certifiable moron. Because what he's doing is shifting this over to the death penalty question. He's not likely to be executed under George Bush. The person that most supports what he did is likely George Bush. And you have the strange alliance between Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and George W. Bush, and the Barack Obama is the guy in the middle.
MADDOW: Is it possible that the guilty plea from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and these other four prisoners might not be accepted because of the fact that the CIA admits to having waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and it's unlikely that the pleas could be seen to be free of the taint of coercion?
TURLEY: My guess is that they're likely to say that it is admissible. He had the opportunity to try to prevent his earlier admissions from being used. There seems to be no question at this point that he was tortured. But coming forth and giving a volitional confession of this type is likely they're going to accept it. And it's going to go to the question of sentencing. And that question is going to take some time. You actually, usually have witnesses at a death penalty hearing. So, it is unlikely that he would be sentenced and certainly, very unlikely to be executed before there is a President Obama in the White House. But then, he's going to have a dilemma because at that point, he would have to execute someone under the Bush tribunal system. The alternative is, if he isn't sentenced at that point, and the one that I think President Obama should do, would be to force him into the federal court, have him re-indicted, have him plead guilty again if he wants to and have him sentenced under a real court and a real judge.
MADDOW: Do you get a sense then that these pleas may not complicate President-elect Obama or will he will be President Obama's efforts to close down Guantanamo? Does this not throw a wrench into the works? Might this even make it easier?
TURLEY: Well, it might, in a sense that there won't be any high-profile pending trials that can't be shifted over the federal system. He's going to have this nasty problem of having someone who is going to be facing the death penalty. If the timing works out for the Obama administration, he won't be sentenced at that point, and he'll still have some flexibility. But what he did, what Mohammed did here is very much like Zacarias Moussaoui who walked into the courtroom one day and pled guilty to everything short of the than the Lindbergh baby, you know, kidnapping and surprised everyone, and went straight into a death penalty proceeding. Later, Moussaoui supposedly really regretted that when he ended up serving life. With Mohammed, it's unlikely he's going to get life. It's likely that if he wants to be a martyr, he's going to find a lot of people that want to help him along.
MADDOW: Martyrdom, whatever its advantages, usually, a bad legal strategy.
TURLEY: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
MADDOW: Jonathan Turley, professor of law at George Washington University, thank you for your time tonight.
TURLEY: Thanks, Rachel.
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