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Too many pretrial motions deemed insulting { November 15 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3390135,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3390135,00.html
Moussaoui Loses Right to Represent Self
Saturday November 15, 2003 8:01 AM
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer
ALXEANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Al-Qaida defendant Zacarias Moussaoui, who filed one too many pretrial motions that a judge deemed insulting, lost the right to represent himself but gained an experienced defense team.
Sixteen months after she let Moussaoui begin serving as his own lawyer, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema revoked that right Friday in the only U.S. case arising from the Sept. 11 attacks.
Moussaoui, who doesn't speak with the legal team that has remained in the case on orders from the judge, will have to cede control over his defense to the attorneys.
The major impact of the change would occur if the case should go to trial. Moussaoui would have the benefit of experienced lawyers who previously would have been relegated to an advisory role at best before a jury.
The lawyers have continued to play a significant role in pretrial matters, filing motions that have won Moussaoui several legal victories.
Brinkema, who last week warned Moussaoui she might revoke his self-representation, said Moussaoui's latest motions ``include contemptuous language that would never be tolerated from an attorney and will no longer be tolerated from this defendant.''
She told him to stop ``further frivolous, scandalous, disrespectful or repetitive pleadings'' or motions that violated court orders. She has told him repeatedly not to try to use his motions to contact al-Qaida sympathizers from his isolated quarters in the Alexandria Detention Center.
While Brinkema did not publicly release the two Moussaoui motions that led to her order, the last filing she did make public, dated Oct. 27, was typical of the French citizen's rhetoric.
Moussaoui said he wants ``anthrax for Jew sympathizer only,'' called Attorney General John Ashcroft ``the Democratic Jerk'' and referred to Brinkema as ``Leonie you Despotically Judge.''
Moussaoui, an acknowledged Osama bin Laden loyalist, is charged with participating in a broad conspiracy with the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers to commit terrorism against the United States.
Frank Dunham Jr., a Moussaoui lawyer and a federal public defender, said, ``It was a front page story when he fired us, but it's not a front page story that the court fired him.''
Another of the defense lawyers, Edward MacMahon Jr., said, ``I would think any defendant would benefit from competent counsel as opposed to trying to represent himself in a capital case.''
He said Moussaoui's refusal to cooperate ``is certainly not an optimal situation. It would be a lot better if we had a client who could cooperate, but apparently, that's not the way it's going to be.''
The Justice Department had no comment.
The judge had granted Moussaoui the right of self-representation on June 14, 2002. From now on, Brinkema said Friday, she will accept only pleadings submitted by the lawyers, while any motion submitted by Moussaoui ``will simply be received for archival purposes.''
She said Moussaoui had 10 days to file a written notice of appeal.
The last straw for Brinkema apparently was the pair of recent motions. One requested a classified congressional report concerning Sept. 11, and the other asked for reconsideration of the judge's order imposing penalties on the government.
The two pleadings ``ask for relief after the court made clear that all action in his case was stayed,'' or postponed, pending an appeal by the government. Prosecutors are trying to block Moussaoui's access to three al-Qaida witnesses.
Brinkema said one of the motions ``asks for relief to which the defendant knows he is not entitled. Specifically, the defendant has been advised on numerous occasions that he cannot have access to classified material.''
She said the other motion ``merely expresses the defendant's dissatisfaction with the Oct. 2, 2003, opinion,'' which favored Moussaoui by banning Sept. 11 evidence and the death penalty.
The motion ``offers no new evidence or argument,'' the judge said.
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