Judge rejects Moussaoui's plea

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The sole person charged in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Zacarias Moussaoui, tried to plead guilty Thursday and declared himself an al-Qaida warrior loyal to Osama bin Laden. The judge insisted that he take a week to consider the consequences in the death penalty case.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema took the rare step of refusing to accept the plea after Moussaoui stunned the courtroom with his announcement.

He kept talking after the judge told him to stop and almost was removed from the courtroom.

Brinkema entered an innocent plea for Moussaoui, but she also set an arraignment for next Thursday, so Moussaoui could respond again to a revised indictment that now includes alleged conduct that could let the government execute him.

"I want to enter a plea, I want to enter a plea of guilty," Moussaoui said, insisting this would allow him to spare his life by explaining what he knows about the Sept. 11 attacks.

Moussaoui, acting as his own attorney, has said in written motions that he was not involved in the attacks, despite an indictment that accuses him of conspiring with the 19 hijackers.

"I know exactly who done it," he said, standing at the lawyers' lectern facing the judge. "I know which group, who participated, when it was decided. I have many information."

He added, "I am member of al-Qaida. I pledge bayat -- a loyalty oath -- to Osama bin Laden."

In between the latter two sentences, the judge tried to stop Moussaoui from speaking and threatened to have U.S. marshals remove him from the court. They did not have to do so.

At another point, Moussaoui threw up both hands in a movement of self-defense. The judge told him to put his hand down.

Instead, Brinkema advised him of the precarious situation he was creating for himself.

"If a defendant stands up in court and says, 'I'm guilty of the offense,' you may put yourself in a position where you cannot undo those words," she said.

Moussaoui sat alone in the middle of three seats at the defense table except when he stood to address the court. He wore the standard green jumpsuit issued by the Alexandria Detention Center.

While the government previously announced its intention to seek the death penalty, the new indictment -- the third in the case -- specified the conduct that could trigger use of the law. It said, for instance, that Moussaoui acted with substantial planning and premeditation in conspiring to commit terrorism.

Prosecutors had a grand jury add the language because a Supreme Court ruling last month said juries, not judges, must be the ultimate arbiters of life or death. However, the decision does not appear to apply in cases in which a defendant pleads guilty and waives his right to have a jury hear the case, lawyers said.

Lawyers differed over what would happen if Brinkema accepted the plea and prosecutors went ahead with plans to seek a death sentence.

Washington lawyer Plato Cacheris said he doubts Brinkema would decide on her own whether to impose a death sentence, saying, "There would probably be a jury empaneled for that purpose."

However, George Washington University law professor Stephen Saltzburg said Moussaoui would waive his right to a jury entirely if he pleads guilty.

Guilty pleas are usually negotiated and often work to a defendant's advantage, especially when they result in removing the death penalty as a potential sentence.

Brinkema announced that Moussaoui had dropped demands that had prevented him from testifying before a grand jury, which he has said he wants to do. It was unclear whether that testimony would be scheduled.

On Monday, U.S.-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh pleaded guilty to two felonies in the same courthouse. But that was a deal negotiated by his lawyers and the government.

In Moussaoui's two previous arraignments, Brinkema has entered innocent pleas for him. In December, he said he had no plea, and in June, he tried to plead "no contest," the equivalent of a guilty plea.

At Thursday's hearing, Moussaoui initially tried to enter "a pure plea," a term he found in a law dictionary. After Brinkema said no such plea was recognized and he was confused, Moussasoui said, "I'm not confused, thank you."

When Brinkema asked whether he wanted an extension of his Sept. 30 trial date to give him more preparation time, Moussaoui said he wanted to think about it.

Brinkema said Moussaoui's court-appointed lawyers would have raised the issue for him.

"I don't have to consult with people who ... have undermined my defense," he told the judge. "So I like you to stop this, this nonsense game that you are playing here.

"And I don't have to take advice from you concerning the way I defend myself."