Moussaoui Wants Texas Lawyer's Help
Preparing his own defense, Zacarias Moussaoui wants a Muslim lawyer from Texas to help him question a government witness familiar with the origins of the Sept. 11 hijackers, according to court papers.
U.S. officials believe Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent who was in custody on immigration charges in August, was to have been the 20th hijacker.
Moussaoui, who won permission from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema this month to act as his own lawyer, asked the court to allow Charles Freeman to help him question the witness and to participate Tuesday in his second arraignment on the Sept. 11 charges.
Moussaoui filed the request Monday morning. The government opposed it, arguing that Freeman should not be allowed to meet with Moussaoui until he formally enters the case by filing notice with the court. Prosecutors said Moussaoui has filed two motions "which were apparently written with the assistance of Mr. Freeman."
"The court should deny defendant's request to have Mr. Freeman represent him, or to act on his behalf, and should admonish Mr. Freeman not to file pleadings on defendant's behalf until Mr. Freeman properly enters his appearance, if he intends to do so," the prosecutors wrote.
Brinkema later sided with the government, ruling that Freeman cannot participate further until he files the appropriate paperwork. In addition, Freeman must join with a local lawyer who is a member of the bar of the court before he can appear in the District Court in Alexandria, Va.
He must also pass an FBI background check before he can represent Moussaoui.
Prosecutors said Freeman was violating rules imposed on Moussaoui that prohibit visits from anyone other than his family. The government witness for whom Moussaoui asked Freeman help in questioning was not identified in the papers. Prosecutors said the witness would be questioned about "the formation of the Hamburg cell in Germany."
Attorney General John Ashcroft has said three leaders of the hijackers, Mohammed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah, were part of a terrorist cell in Hamburg. The indictment against Moussaoui alleges that another member of that cell, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, wired $14,000 to Moussaoui last August.
Frank Dunham Jr., the federal public defender appointed to represent Moussaoui, said Freeman has met with Moussaoui several times since May 24. He said Freeman wrote him a letter offering his assistance in defending Moussaoui.
The letter arrived in April, shortly after Moussaoui denounced his court-appointed lawyers as part of a conspiracy to kill him, Dunham said.
The government also asked Monday that it be permitted to withhold addresses of government witnesses and potential jurors. Under federal law, persons charged with treason or other capital offenses must be given a list of witnesses and prospective jurors and their addresses at least three days before the trial.
Prosecutors argued that providing such information to Moussaoui would endanger the witnesses and jurors. They cited the indictment as well as Moussaoui's own words, including his declaration in court that he was praying for the destruction of the United States.
"The current case involves a unique threat to prospective witnesses," the prosecution wrote.
"The indictment charges defendant with participating in one of the most heinous and enormous crimes ever perpetrated in the United States," it said. "The indictment alone may demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant represents a danger to government witnesses."
In a separate filing, prosecutors asked Brinkema to allow Sept. 11 victims who may testify during Moussaoui's trial to be allowed to view the proceedings either in the courtroom or via closed-circuit television.