Judge Leonie M

Judge Leonie M. Brinkema ruled that the government cannot seek the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui and barred prosecutors from attempting to link him to the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, because of their refusal to permit Mr. Moussaoui to interview captured terrorists whose testimony might aid in his defense. The ruling by Judge Brinkema was a sharp rebuke to the Justice Department, which had previously attempted to portray Mr. Moussaoui as a central figure in the Sept. 11 conspiracy whose actions could have prevented the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Mr. Moussaoui had been the only person facing trial in an American court for conspiring in the Sept. 11 attacks. But in throwing out much of the case brought against him, Judge Brinkema described Mr. Moussaoui as a "remote or minor participant" in Al Qaeda's plans for terrorism directed at the United States. While refusing to a defense request to dismiss the indictment entirely, Judge Brinkema said Mr. Moussaoui could not get a fair trial on any of the charges involving the Sept. 11 attacks if he was denied access to witnesses held overseas who helped plan the attack. Since the government has refused to make the terrorists available for questioning by Mr. Moussaoui and his court-appointed defense lawyers, "the government will be foreclosed at trial from making any argument, or offering any evidence, suggesting that the defendant had any involvement in, or knowledge of, the Sept. 11 attacks," Judge Brinkema wrote on Thursday. "It would simply be unfair to require Moussaoui to defend against such prejudicial accusations while being denied the ability to present testimony from witnesses who could assist him in contradicting these accusations." The judge allowed the Justice Department to continue pursuing broader conspiracy charges that accuse Mr. Moussaoui of ties to Qaeda terrorism plots. Judge Brinkema's ruling in Federal District Court in the Virginia suburbs of Washington was a response to the Bush administration's refusal to obey a pair of orders that she issued earlier this year allowing Mr. Moussaoui to interview captured Qaeda terrorists held overseas who were involved in planning the terrorist attacks. As to the prosecution's request for the death penalty, Judge Brinkema said: "It simply cannot be the case that Moussaoui, a remote or minor participant in `Al Qaeda's war against the United States,' can lawfully be sentenced to death for the actions of other members of Al Qaeda, who perpetrated the Sept. 11 attacks, without any evidence" that Mr. Moussaoui had any direct involvement or knowledge in the planning of the attacks.