## Facts

- A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted Zacarias Moussaoui on six terrorism-related conspiracy counts, including conspiracies to commit international terrorism, aircraft piracy, destroy aircraft, use weapons of mass destruction, and murder U.S. employees.
- The government alleged Moussaoui was an al Qaeda member who pledged allegiance to its leadership, received training, and agreed to participate in a plan to use hijacked commercial aircraft as weapons against U.S. targets.
- The government’s proffered evidence included Moussaoui’s pilot-training efforts in the United States, possession of aviation-related materials, contacts and financial links with other conspirators, and travel patterns consistent with operational planning.
- After his August 2001 arrest, Moussaoui admitted he intentionally lied to federal agents to avoid disrupting planned attacks.
- Pretrial litigation focused on whether Moussaoui could obtain access (including by deposition) to certain detained al Qaeda witnesses and how classified information would be handled under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA).
- The court ordered Rule 15 depositions for certain detained witnesses under protective procedures; the government asserted national-security limits and sought to use CIPA substitutions (summaries/redactions) instead.
- On April 22, 2005, Moussaoui pled guilty to all six counts after a Rule 11 colloquy and a signed factual stipulation.
- A 2006 penalty-phase jury found him death-eligible but did not unanimously select death; the court imposed life imprisonment without possibility of release on May 4, 2006.

## Issues

1. Whether a capital defendant has a constitutional right to obtain potentially favorable testimony from government-held detainee witnesses, and what remedy applies if the government refuses production on national-security grounds.
2. Whether CIPA substitutions and summaries can adequately protect Sixth Amendment compulsory-process and confrontation interests when direct witness access is restricted.
3. Whether the defendant’s guilty plea was knowing, voluntary, and supported by an adequate factual basis notwithstanding disputes about the extent of his connection to the September 11 attacks.
4. Whether, at capital sentencing, the government proved death-eligibility aggravators and whether the jury’s lack of unanimity required a life sentence.

## Decision

- The court held that a fair capital proceeding requires meaningful access to material, favorable witness testimony from witnesses in government custody, at least through controlled depositions or adequate substitutes.
- The court indicated the government could not pursue a death sentence while withholding material favorable evidence or refusing to provide an adequate equivalent.
- The court permitted the use of CIPA procedures to protect classified information, but required substitutions to be sufficient to allow substantially the same ability to present the defense.
- The court accepted Moussaoui’s guilty plea after finding competence, a knowing and voluntary waiver of trial rights, and an adequate factual basis.
- After the jury failed to unanimously recommend death, the court sentenced Moussaoui to life imprisonment without possibility of release.

## Legal Principles

- In a capital case, the Sixth Amendment and due process require an opportunity to present material, favorable evidence, including testimony from witnesses in government custody when it can affect guilt or mitigation.
- The government may not simultaneously seek a death sentence and use privilege or classification to deny the defense access to material favorable evidence without providing an adequate substitute.
- CIPA permits protective handling of classified information, but substitutions must be adequate to preserve the defendant’s ability to present a defense.
- A guilty plea is valid when the defendant is competent, the plea is knowing and voluntary under Rule 11, and the record establishes a sufficient factual basis for each offense.
- Under federal capital-sentencing procedures, absence of jury unanimity on a death recommendation results in a life sentence.

## Conclusion

The district court’s pretrial rulings required the government, in a capital terrorism prosecution, to provide meaningful access or adequate substitutes for material detained-witness testimony despite national-security concerns; the court later accepted Moussaoui’s guilty plea and, after a non-unanimous jury verdict on punishment, imposed a mandatory life sentence without possibility of release.


United States v. Moussaoui, 282 F. Supp. 2d 480 (E.D. Va. 2003)