A federal judge today put the death penalty case against September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui on hold for two days while she decided whether it should continue after a US government lawyer violated a rule on sharing information with witnesses.
"In all the years I've been on the bench, I've never seen such an egregious violation of the court's rule on witnesses," US District Judge Leonie Brinkema said.
Ms Justice Brinkema recessed the court for about 90 minutes then returned and said she had decided to put the trial on hold until at least Wednesday because she said she needed more time to decide whether or not to dismiss the case.
"It is very difficult for this case to go forward," she said before calling the jury in to explain what was happening with the trial. She told the jury to reconvene on Wednesday morning.
Ms Justice Brinkema gave few details of the problem to the jury, saying only that there was a violation of a court order.
She said she needed more time to decide whether to dismiss the government's request for a death sentence for Moussaoui, who last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with the September 11 attacks, and instead sentence him to life in prison.
Moussaoui, 37, an admitted al-Qaeda member and the only person convicted in the United States in connection with the hijackings, is represented by a team of court-appointed lawyers, which he has repeatedly denounced in court.
He also has cursed America and smiled during accounts of the four airplanes that were slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,000 people.
In a discussion in court without the jury present, Ms Justice Brinkema said a government lawyer had violated the rule by reading the transcript of the first day of the trial and discussing the case with several potential witnesses who were due to be called by both the prosecution and the defense.
Ms Justice Brinkema said the lawyer, identified only as "Ms. Martin," had read transcripts of the opening arguments and discussed some of the testimony with potential witnesses.
The lawyer was first described as working for the Federal Aviation Administration but was later described by federal prosecutors as working for the Transportation Security Administration. She had been working for the FAA to help witnesses involved in the Moussaoui trial.
Defense lawyer Edward MacMahon asked Ms Justice Brinkema to rule that Moussaoui cannot be sentenced to death for his crimes.
"This is not going to be a fair trial," MacMahon said.
"The proceedings just should be dismissed and Mr Moussaoui sentenced to life in prison," he added.
The defense already had requested a mistrial following an error by the government during the questioning of an FBI witness.
"This is the second significant error by the government affecting the constitutional rights of this defendant," Ms Justice Brinkema said. "More importantly, it affects the integrity of the criminal justice system of the United States."
The sentencing trial started March 6 and was expected to last up to three months.