This Lawyer Could Be In A Bit Of Trouble (with updates)

I've had to deal a lot lately with a local attorney who is profoundly unethical and corrupt to the core. But BushCo attorney Carla Martin would certainly run a close second to that guy:

Saying she was troubled by witness coaching and other government missteps, Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that the jury deciding whether Moussaoui is executed or spends the rest of his life in prison won't hear from aviation security witnesses.

The judge delayed testimony until Monday to give federal prosecutors time to appeal.

Brinkema, who has presided over the trial for more than four years, decided to keep Federal Aviation Administration witnesses from the stand as a remedy for misconduct by a government lawyer, Carla J. Martin.

Martin was not a member of the prosecution team, but she sent trial transcripts and comments to seven witnesses by e-mail. The government cut one of those witnesses from its list.

A senior lawyer with the Transportation Security Administration, Martin did not testify Tuesday. She is no longer working as a liaison between prosecutors and the agency.

The government's misconduct, the judge said, went beyond coaching witnesses to include misrepresenting their willingness to talk with Moussaoui's defense.

"Whether these witnesses have actually been tainted or not is almost impossible to tell," Brinkema said.

"I don't think at this point the case needs to stop," the judge added. "However, in the annals of criminal law, I don't know if there has ever been a case with this many significant problems."

Of course, it doesn't surprise me that an attorney working for the Bush Regime would thumb her nose at a co-equal branch of government -- this is pretty much standard operating procedure for the current administration -- but this Moussaoui trial is clearly a part of the War On Terror and BushCo seems to be going out of its way to let the evildoers prevail on this one. Moussaoui must be laughing his ass off right now.

UPDATE: From the Washington Post:

A federal prosecutor in the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui told the judge in the case that he saw "no point" in going ahead with the proceedings under a ruling that barred key government witnesses from testifying.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer, one of the prosecutors trying to persuade a jury that Moussaoui deserves the death penalty for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, made the comment in a conference call yesterday among U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema and lawyers for the prosecution and defense after Brinkema prohibited testimony and evidence from half a dozen federal aviation witnesses. Brinkema issued the ruling after a day-long hearing convinced her that misconduct by a federal lawyer had so tainted the proceeding that all evidence concerning aviation security must be stricken.

The decision gutted the case that prosecutors were building in their attempt to have Moussaoui executed for the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Moussaoui, 37, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, pleaded guilty last April to six conspiracy counts related to the Sept. 11 attacks. If the death penalty trial does not go forward or if the jury ultimately decides in favor of the defense, Moussaoui would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Isn't that wonderful news? Man, I can't wait to find out how much this little trial cost the taxpayers.

Anyone want to bet that this Carla J. Martin character gets a promotion? Bush really loves rewarding incompetence, given that both Condi Rice and Paul Wolfowitz were promoted.

UPDATE II: Bush has a 33% approval rating in the most recent Pew poll.