Another problem of authoritarian government

From Judge Halts Moussaoui Trial: Government Violation of Court May Rule Out Death Penalty by Jerry Markon and Timothy Dwyer Washington Post 03/13/06:

A federal judge today halted the death penalty trial of Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and indicated she might throw out the death penalty entirely after prosecutors disclosed that a government attorney had violated the court's rules about discussing witness testimony.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema called it "the most egregious violation of the court's rules on witnesses" she had seen "in all the years I've been on the bench."
Her comments came after prosecutors said a Transportation Security Administration attorney had discussed the testimony of about seven witnesses with them before they took the stand and also arranged for them to read a transcript of the government's opening statement in the case. Both actions were banned by the judge in a pre-trial order. ...

... Moussaoui pleaded guilty last April to conspiring with al Qaeda in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He is the only person convicted in the United States on charges stemming from Sept. 11. (my emphasis)

Violating the rules on prosecutions becomes a vicious circle. If evidence and testimony is tainted, by torture or coaching against the court's rules or whatever, it becomes more difficult to get convictions (or the government's requested sentence in this example). That increases the temptation to handle suspects outside the system in secret prisons and using torture and so forth. If the cycle is going to stop, somebody has to stop it. The judge is this case sounds like she's blowing the whistle on this example of it.

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