TSA Lawyer Coached Witnesses in Moussaoui Trial

This is pretty effing outrageous. I am detecting pressure from above in this matter.

A federal judge halted the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui yesterday and threatened to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence for the Sept. 11 conspirator after a veteran government aviation lawyer improperly shared testimony and communicated with witnesses.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, clearly exasperated by the new problems in the oft-delayed case, called the conduct of Carla J. Martin, a Transportation Security Administration lawyer, "the most egregious violation of the court's rules on witnesses" she had seen "in all the years I've been on the bench."...

Martin violated a court order by e-mailing trial transcripts to seven witnesses -- all current and former federal aviation employees -- and coaching them on their upcoming testimony, court papers say. She also shared the e-mails among the witnesses...

The judge ordered a hearing today to find out how the incident happened. To sanction the government for the error, she could remove the death penalty, forbid the witnesses from testifying or declare a mistrial. The government could appeal either of the first two sanctions.

Further embarrassing the government, Martin's e-mails sharply criticized prosecutors' case, saying, among other things, that their opening statement "has created a credibility gap that the defense can drive a truck through."...

Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Novak said in court yesterday that the testimony of the contacted witnesses constituted "half the evidence in this case."...

"This is the only opportunity for the government to make a Sept. 11 case. This is it. There isn't another," said Juliette Kayyem, a terrorism expert at Harvard University. "The government has to cross every t and dot every i to ensure that the Sept. 11 families finally have their day in court. If it gets messed up over a technicality . . . there is no excuse."

Duke University law professor Robert P. Mosteller said ethical restrictions against speaking with witnesses are drilled into every attorney. "Lawyers don't do things like this," he said. "The federal rule on witnesses is elegant in its simplicity, and it's usually not something people get wrong."

Ms. Martin didn't "get it wrong." Attorneys know the rules. This is like a cop going out and robbing a bank, "it's usually not something cops get wrong."

In this high-profile case, there would naturally be the incentive for the government to do everything within their power to secure the death penalty. Nonetheless, I seriously doubt whether this woman dreamed up the witness tampering scheme on her own volition.

She will doubtlessly get the sole blame, but there are likely other high ranking (maybe very high ranking) officials who green-lighted her malfeasance.

Nobody expected that one of her contactees, a trusted government type, would bring this bogey to the officers of the court who have a legal responsibility to report it to the judge.

Notice that none of the other contactees came forward.

They knew better.