Homeswerte gaming Twists and Turns in Sept. 11 Plea Process Are Agonizing, Families Say
Families of the nearly 3swerte gaming,000 victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks may be divided over whether the man accused of being the mastermind of the plot should someday face a death penalty trial or be allowed to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison.
But many agree on one thing: The on-again, off-again plea deal process has been agonizing.
“It’s a roller coaster that gets you nauseous,” said Julie Boryczewski, whose brother, Martin Boryczewski, a trader at the World Trade Center, was killed in the attacks. Ms. Boryczewski wants Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the main defendant, put to death. Otherwise, she said, terrorism wins.
Jessica Trant, whose father, Dan Trant, was killed on Sept. 11, said the uncertainty amounted to “mental warfare.”
“Why are we being victimized again?” said Ms. Trant, who also supports a death penalty trial.
Sept. 11 families who have been watching the yearslong case at Guantánamo Bay feel whipsawed. On July 31, a senior Pentagon official approved a deal by prosecutors that exchanged life in prison without the possibility of release or appeal. Then Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III rescinded the agreement to try to return the case to a capital trial, a process that would require years of litigation and appeals.
Today the case is in legal limbo. On Nov. 6 the presiding judge, Col. Matthew N. McCall, ruled that Mr. Austin acted too late and that the plea deal was still valid for Mr. Mohammed and two co-defendants. Prosecutors who reached the agreement are now preparing an appeal to a higher court.
“Please, it’s torture at this point,” said Cindy McGinty, whose husband, Michael, was killed at the Trade Center. “To me, personally, it’s cruel. In a perfect world I would like to see a trial with all the evidence and the court decides whether there will be life or death. That’s what I wanted 23 years ago. Now I would much rather see a plea deal and have them locked up and never think about them again.”
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