Col. Matthew McCall, the military judge in the Sept. 11 case, authorized lawyers on Wednesday to investigate whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III lawfully rescinded a plea agreement with the man accused of planning the attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and two accused accomplices, the New York Times reports. Last week, a senior Pentagon official who oversees the military commissions signed an agreement with the three defendants to resolve the case with lifetime sentences — but then, two days later, Austin appointed himself as the sole authority of plea agreements and rescinded it, saying that the three should face a death-penalty trial.
McCall ordered briefings on the question of whether there was unlawful influence in the case in time for the next round of hearings, starting on Sept. 16, days after the 23rd anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The plea agreements remain under seal as case evidence. Mohammed’s lawyer, Gary D. Sowards, said the judge could resolve the issue this week by reviewing the rules governing military commissions and the plea agreement and decide a “basic contract law” question: Is the government bound by the agreement signed on July 31 by Austin’s appointee, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier? If so, Sowards said, the judge should move forward with fact finding on whether Mohammed’s guilty plea was knowing and voluntary “before we leave the island” on Saturday. “
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