US Supreme Court Rejects 9/11 Defendants' Bid to Restore Revoked Plea Deals

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants seeking to reinstate plea agreements that had been withdrawn. Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi remain detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with a trial scheduled for June 2028. The three men negotiated pre-trial agreements in 2024 under president Joe Biden that would have spared them the death penalty. After some victims' families objected, defence secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the deals cancelled, prompting litigation over whether he had the authority to do so. A lower appellate court concluded last year that Austin had "acted within the bounds of his legal authority." The Supreme Court's refusal leaves that ruling in place and keeps the death-penalty-eligible prosecution on track.