U.S. Tries To Salvage Moussaoui Case

Prosecutors Ask Judge To Allow Testimony; U.S. Lawyer Put On Leave

(CBS/AP)  Fighting for the death penalty in a 9/11 sentencing trial, prosecutors are beseeching a federal judge to reconsider her decision to exclude half the government's case against confessed al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

They acknowledge their only hope of obtaining the death penalty for the 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent is to persuade U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema that she punished the government too harshly for tampering with trial witnesses and lying to defense attorneys.

Brinkema did not immediately respond to the motion for reconsideration that prosecutors filed Wednesday evening. But she had indicated earlier that she had time available Thursday to hear such a motion if it were filed.

The jury has been sent home until Monday to give prosecutors time to consider their next step.

Brinkema barred prosecutors from submitting any witnesses or exhibits about aviation security. Prosecutors responded in their motion that this evidence "goes to the very core of our theory of the case."

At the very least, the prosecutors argued, they should be allowed to present a newly designated aviation security witness who had no contact with Carla J. Martin, the Transportation Security Administration lawyer responsible for the government's misconduct. This would "allow us to present our complete theory of the case, albeit in imperfect form."

"The public has a strong interest in seeing and hearing it (aviation security evidence), and the court should not eliminate it from the case, particularly not ... where other remedies are available," they wrote Brinkema.

Brinkema ruled Tuesday that Martin violated federal rules when she sent trial transcripts to seven aviation witnesses, coached them on how to deflect defense attacks and lied to defense lawyers to prevent them from interviewing witnesses they wanted to call. The judge said Martin's actions and other government missteps had left the aviation evidence "irremediably contaminated."

Martin has been placed on administrative leave from her TSA job, agency spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said Thursday.

Martin's lawyer, Roscoe Howard, said Thursday she had been "viciously vilified by assertions from the prosecution and assorted media pundits." His client is preparing a response that Howard said "will show a very different, full picture of her intentions, her conduct and her tireless dedication to a fair trial."