Av Security Testimony Not Allowed; Lawyer Faces Contempt Charges

To paraphrase alleged 9/11 collaborator Zacharias Moussaoui's outburst in court Monday, the show WILL go on.

After mulling options in the face of apparent impropriety on the part of a TSA attorney, Judge Leonie Brinkema decided Tuesday the penalty trial for Moussaoui would continue -- but it won't be the trial the government initially envisioned.

Exasperated by mounting government missteps -- the latest of which involving an email from federal attorney Carla Martin that made the rounds this weekend among seven FAA witnesses --  Brinkema ruled that no testimony about aviation security measures would be allowed during the trial.

Prosecutors initially stated such testimony would comprise nearly half of their overall case against Moussaoui, whom they are trying to link directly to the events of 9/11. Moussaoui pleaded guilty earlier to planning an attack on the White House, using an aircraft... but stopped short of saying he helped plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The government must connect Moussaoui to 9/11 in order to force the death penalty on Moussaoui. Failing that, the French citizen will receive life in prison for his admitted crimes.

By ruling that the prosecution must avoid testimony on aviation security matters, Brinkema's decision means federal prosecutors will have to focus solely on what the FBI could have done had Moussaoui told them about the 9/11 plot to hijack planes and crash them into American landmarks.

As for Carla Martin, there were more revelations on Tuesday about the role she supposedly played in trying to skew the trial's results.

The Associated Press reports that Martin told one witness sought by defense lawyers that he could not speak to them, and that Martin falsely told the defense that two others were not willing to speak to them.

"I wouldn't trust anything Martin had anything to do with at this point," Brinkema said.

The jury was not present for Tuesday's questioning and ruling. Martin herself was, albeit only briefly. She told the judge she didn't have time to arrange for her own attorney.

Brinkema ordered Martin back in court on Wednesday -- with a lawyer -- and warned her that she faces civil and perhaps even criminal charges of contempt.

FMI: www.doj.gov