The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, leaving in place the Biden administration's withdrawal of 2024 plea agreements that would have let the men avoid the death penalty. The decision keeps alive the government's bid to block the deals and leaves the long-running military commission case on its current track.
Mohammed, Mustafa al Hawsawi and Walid bin 'Atash had sought to enforce agreements reached with military prosecutors after years of stalled proceedings over the Sept. 11 attacks. Under those terms, the three defendants would have pleaded guilty to all charges arising from their alleged roles in the attacks and received life sentences instead of facing death on five charges.
The dispute now turns on who had the power to stop the deals after they were announced. A military judge ruled in November 2024 that Lloyd Austin's nullification was unlawful, and a military appeals court later said he could not rescind the agreements because the defendants had already begun performing one of the terms. The Justice Department asked the D.C. Circuit to uphold Austin's withdrawal, and the appeals court agreed last year, saying he acted within his legal authority and rejecting the idea that judges should second-guess that call.
That left the Supreme Court with a narrower question: whether to revive plea bargains that the government had already pulled back. It declined to do so. Brett Kavanaugh did not take part in the court's review, and the result leaves the withdrawal in force.
The case has been delayed for years by fights over whether statements tied to the men's interrogations could be used in court. Mohammed, Hawsawi and Walid were captured in 2003, held in secret CIA prisons where they were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques before being moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006, and formally charged in 2008. Military lawyers began discussing plea deals in 2023 after Susan Escallier was appointed Convening Authority for military commissions, then reached agreements in 2024 that she approved before Austin moved to revoke them shortly after they were announced.
The practical consequence is that the plea path remains closed for now, and the case continues toward a June 2028 trial date set in August if deadlines and milestones are met on time. For Mohammed, the Supreme Court's refusal means the promise of a life sentence instead of a death case has been put back out of reach, at least for the moment.
