Attorney Describes 9/11 Lawyer as 'Vilified'

Prosecutors called Martin a "lone miscreant" in a court filing Wednesday and said her role in the Moussaoui case was nothing more than that of a conduit between various government agencies as she coordinated the testimony of aviation witnesses.

Brinkema has said the prosecution team deserves "great credit" for bringing what she called Martin's "egregious errors" to her attention.

Moussaoui, 37, pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaeda in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Prosecutors are seeking his execution in a sentencing trial that began last week but halted Monday when they told Brinkema that Martin had e-mailed trial transcripts to seven aviation witnesses and coached them on their testimony. Brinkema had ruled earlier that most witnesses could not attend or follow the trial and could not read transcripts.

Martin's e-mails sharply criticized the government's case, saying the prosecution's opening statement "has created a credibility gap that the defense can drive a truck through."

After an extraordinary hearing Tuesday, Brinkema struck the testimony of all seven witnesses and the aviation-related evidence. That gutted much of the government's argument: That if Moussaoui had not lied to the FBI when he was arrested in August 2001, the Sept. 11 attacks could have been prevented.

Prosecutors were planning to show that had Moussaoui confessed his knowledge of the plot, the FBI would have scrambled to stop the hijackings and the Federal Aviation Administration would have increased security at the nation's airports. The entire aviation portion is now lost unless Brinkema reconsiders.

In their motion for reconsideration, prosecutors called the ruling unprecedented and "grossly punitive." At a minimum, they said, the judge should let them present a portion of the disputed evidence through a new witness who had no contact with Martin.

But Moussaoui's attorneys wrote yesterday that Brinkema's order was, "without question, necessary to protect Mr. Moussaoui's right to a fair trial and to protect the integrity of the criminal justice system."

Staff writer Carol Morello contributed to this report.