Plea deals for accused 9/11 plotters are valid, judge rules A military judge said he would move forward with accepting guilty pleas from three defendants in exchange for life sentences. The agreements had been rescinded by the defense secretary.

(NY Times) A military judge ruled on Wednesday that plea agreements in the Sept. 11 case were valid, reviving the possibility that the man accused of planning the attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and two accused accomplices could eventually be sentenced to life in prison instead of death.

Col. Matthew N. McCall, the judge, ruled that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III acted too late and beyond the scope of his authority when he rescinded the three separate pretrial agreements on Aug. 2, two days after a senior Pentagon appointee signed them.

Colonel McCall said he would move forward with having Mr. Mohammed and two other defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, appear before his court to enter their pleas, separately. But he set no timetable, perhaps to give prosecutors time to decide whether to appeal.

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