The Supreme Court turned away appeals from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices seeking to restore withdrawn plea deals that would have spared them the death penalty, keeping capital charges intact more than two decades after Sept. 11.
In an unsigned order issued Monday in Washington, the high court rebuffed the bid by Mohammed, Mustafa al Hawsawi, and Walid bin 'Atash to revive pretrial agreements military prosecutors had reached with them in 2024. CBS News reported that the government’s withdrawal of those deals remains in place. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not take part in the court’s consideration of the appeal.
Under the deals, the three men would have pleaded guilty to all charges and served life sentences, avoiding execution. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the agreements shortly after they were announced. The Supreme Court’s action leaves that revocation standing and points the cases back toward a full military-commission trial.
For families of the nearly 3,000 people murdered on Sept. 11, 2001, the outcome keeps the most serious penalties on the table for the man accused of masterminding the plot and two men charged as accomplices.
Retired Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, the convening authority who oversees the military court at Guantanamo Bay, approved the 2024 plea agreements after military lawyers began discussing deals following her 2023 appointment. Austin moved quickly to revoke them.
A military judge ruled in November 2024 that Austin’s nullification was unlawful and that the agreements were valid and enforceable. A military appeals court later said Austin could not rescind the deals because the defendants had begun to perform one of the terms.
The Justice Department then asked the D.C. Circuit to step in and find that Austin had validly withdrawn from the pretrial agreements. The appeals court sided with the government last year, ruling that the defense secretary “indisputably” had authority to pull out of the deals.
The D.C. Circuit panel stated its position in plain terms.
"The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment,"
the court wrote. The Supreme Court left that result undisturbed.
Mohammed, Hawsawi, and bin 'Atash were captured in 2003. They were held in secret CIA prisons and subjected to what officials called enhanced interrogation techniques before being moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006. They were formally charged in 2008 with several crimes tied to alleged roles in crafting and carrying out the Sept. 11 attacks. Five of those charges carry the death penalty.
The military commission cases have dragged on for years at Guantanamo Bay. In August, the military judge overseeing the matters set a trial date of June 2028, contingent on the parties meeting deadlines and milestones. That schedule now matters more, with the plea path closed by Austin’s withdrawal and the high court’s refusal to reopen it.
Prosecutors had been prepared to lock in guilty pleas and life terms. Austin’s revocation put the death penalty back in play. Defendants sought to force the deals back into force through the military courts, the D.C. Circuit, and finally the Supreme Court. They failed at the last step.
The core dispute was never whether the three men faced grave charges for the worst terrorist attack on American soil. It was whether a defense secretary could unwind plea bargains after a convening authority approved them, and after defendants had started to perform under the terms.
Military judges first blocked Austin. The D.C. Circuit reversed course and refused to second-guess the secretary’s judgment. The Supreme Court’s unsigned order ends the appellate fight over restoring the deals. The withdrawal stays. Life sentences in exchange for guilty pleas are off the table unless the government chooses a new bargain.
That leaves the United States pursuing a capital case against the alleged architect of Sept. 11 and two co-defendants before a military commission, on a timeline that already stretches to 2028. Victims’ families have waited through capture, CIA detention, transfer to Guantanamo, formal charges in 2008, years of pretrial litigation, a brief plea detour in 2024, and now another court loss for the defense.
The high court did not issue a lengthy opinion explaining its reasoning. It simply turned the appeals away. In practical terms, that is enough: Austin’s decision stands, and the death-eligible charges remain live.
Americans who lost parents, children, and coworkers on Sept. 11 did not ask for a bargain that traded away the ultimate penalty. The Supreme Court just made sure that bargain stays dead.
