Nov 15, 2009 7:23 am US/Eastern
Security, Legal Issues Collide In NYC 9/11 Trial
Accused Mastermind Of September 11 Attacks, 4 Others To Face Jury In NYC
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
AP
-
-
An image of a courtroom drawing by artist Janet Hamlin, reviewed by the U.S. military, shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (C) and co-defendant Walid Bin Attash (L) attending a pre-trial session on Dec. 8, 2008, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Janet Hamlin/Getty Images
-
-
In this photo reviewed by US military officials, a detainee whose name, nationality, and facial identification are not permitted, walks within the grounds of the Camp 5 maximum security prison at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba, 26 June 2006.
Brennan Linsley/AFP/Getty Images
Security issues and legal issues collide, as New Yorkers are taking sides over the terror trial for the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks.
Should he be allowed to walk into a New York City courtroom, just steps from Ground Zero?
"I think it's a logistical and security nightmare for the American People," Alice Hoagland, mother of a 9/11 victim, said.
Hoagland's son was a passenger on United Flight 93 when terrorists crashed it into a Pennsylvania field on that tragic day. Hoagland worries that bringing the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and his accomplices to New York would make the city an even bigger target – and some security experts agree.
"Keeping the courthouse secure, keeping downtown secure, we've got the manpower to do that, but what we worry about is suicide bombers, something that could attract other terrorists like the ones that are being tried," Robert Strang, of Investigative Management Group, said.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the NYPD is fully prepared.
"We've handled high profile events, certainly high profile trials in the past, and we'll be able to do it," Kelly said.
"I am pleased that they're moving these trials to New York near the scene of the crime, giving the families that were most affected [the opportunity] to see the trials," Lorie Van Auken, wife of a 9/11 victim, said.
Van Auken lost her husband, Kenneth, on September 11, and she says she'll be in the federal courtroom in New york for the terror trial.
She says the military court proceedings in Guantanamo Bay were not open enough.
"It would be very assuring to me and a lot of others to see the American system of justice work," Van Auken said.
Some relatives fear the suspects could be freed on a technicality, that a defense attorney could challenge Mohammed's confession to planning the attacks. The government admitted to using water-boarding interrogation techniques on him 183 times in 2003.
"But ultimately, the administration would not have put these five individuals into the federal system, I think, if they weren't convinced they could get a conviction," CBS News security consultant Juan Zarate said.
Defense lawyers could argue that Khalid Sheik Mohammed's six years in detention have already violated his right to a fair trial. They could also challenge if it's possible to get an impartial jury in New York, where nearly 3,000 people were killed on September 11.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Looming Storm Likely To Bury NYC, Suburbs 36 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments