Moussaoui can't represent self

By Shannon McCaffrey
Knight Ridder Newspapers

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled yesterday that Zacarias Moussaoui no longer can represent himself, saying the al-Qaida loyalist was clogging the court with frivolous legal filings filled with insults and threats.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema — a prime target of Moussaoui's written abuse — will put the case on a more traditional track.

Moussaoui will be represented by his court-appointed standby lawyers, who have been arguing on his behalf.

Moussaoui, 35, is the only person in the United States charged in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Brinkema warned Moussaoui on Nov. 5 that he could lose the right to represent himself if he continued to flood the court with inappropriate filings containing insults and threats to public officials. Government officials also fear that Moussaoui, who they believe was involved in plotting another attack, could attempt to send signals via the filings to al-Qaida members who are still free.

Moussaoui lost his right to represent himself with two filings that offended Brinkema. One sought classified information; the other expressed his displeasure at an earlier court ruling.

"Both pleadings include contemptuous language that would never be tolerated from an attorney and will no longer be tolerated from this defendant," Brinkema wrote.

The judge had granted Moussaoui the right of self-representation on June 14, 2002. From now on, Brinkema said yesterday, 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.

Frank Dunham Jr., a Moussaoui defense 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 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.

In his hand-scrawled filings Moussaoui frequently referred to Brinkema as DJ — for "dirty joke" — and accused her and his court-appointed lawyers of trying to kill him.

"She wants the lynch to go on," he wrote in one October filing, which he signed as "The Global Star of Terror" and "Suicide Pilot Ready for Action."

In another filing, he expressed a desire to torture Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Moussaoui's presence has lent his case a circuslike atmosphere. During one appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Va., he pledged his loyalty to Osama bin Laden in a rambling rant.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company