Moussaoui Trial - Witness Coaching Fiasco

It’s hard not to feel sorry for U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. Faced with the difficult challenge of conducting the death penalty trial of confessed al-Queda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, she could reasonably expect and demand top-notch lawyering. Instead, she has had to deal with "Keystone Kops" advocacy in this sensitive, high-profile case. It is yet another embarrassment in the administration’s "war on terrorism," and a dramatic lesson for trial lawyers everywhere.

Moussaoui was arrested just weeks before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, after his behavior at a flight school aroused suspicion. He pleaded guilty a year ago to being part of a broad al-Queda plot, but said at the time he was not part of the 9/11 plan. Last week, in his dramatic trial testimony, he reversed course and said that he was. To get the death penalty, prosecutors must prove that his initial lies about being a flight student allowed the 9/11 plot to succeed. Thus, until this testimony, officials of