更新于2026年10月19日，美国东部时间上午9:51 / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：约翰·弗里策
2012年4月4日，美国对哈立德·谢赫·穆罕默德（资料图）以及另外四名涉案共谋者提起诉讼。
法新社/盖蒂图片社/资料图
美国最高法院周一拒绝审查前国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀取消与哈立德·谢赫·穆罕默德及另外两名被控策划9·11恐怖袭击的被告人认罪协议的决定。
最高法院驳回上诉，维持了去年一家上诉法院的裁决，该裁决认定曾为前总统乔·拜登工作的奥斯汀“无可争议地”有权取消这些认罪协议——这些协议原本已排除对这三名涉案共谋者判处死刑的可能。
这一裁决将案件交还给多年来一直难以确定审判日期的军事法庭审理。
这些认罪协议曾引发部分代表9·11遇难者及其家属的团体的强烈反对。
穆罕默德、穆斯塔法·阿尔·哈萨维和瓦利德·本·阿塔什在各自的上诉中辩称，美国哥伦比亚特区巡回上诉法院在本案中支持政府的做法越权了。
“今日驳回调卷令的实际效果是为这些案件中不可避免的审前程序继续推进扫清了道路，”CNN法律分析师、乔治城大学法学院教授史蒂夫·弗拉德克说道，他曾提交一份法庭之友意见书，敦促大法官受理上诉。
“如果审判在不久的将来有合理的可能性进行，那另当别论，但考虑到仍有诸多问题有待解决，即便当前设定的2028年夏季审判日期也完全不切实际。”
由于多届美国总统政府一直在试图解决中央情报局监狱中人员遭受酷刑的问题，以及酷刑获取的证据是否可在法庭上采纳的问题，针对穆罕默德等人的审判已被推迟多年。
经过两年多的谈判，检方于2024年宣布了审前认罪协议。根据协议，被告需对所有指控认罪，并接受公开 sentencing 听证会，在听证会上他们必须回答遇难者家属和2001年9月11日袭击幸存者的提问。
奥斯汀于两年前突然撤销了这些协议，称如此重大的决定“应由我本人作出”。特朗普政府仍在为奥斯汀撤销认罪协议的决定辩护。
负责审理这三名男子案件的军事法官在2024年裁定，认罪协议“有效且可强制执行”。几周后，一家军事上诉法院作出不利于奥斯汀的裁决。
这些认罪协议再次引发部分代表9·11遇难者及其家属的团体的强烈反对。
大法官布雷特·卡瓦诺回避了本案的审议。
本文已更新补充更多细节。
Supreme Court backs Pentagon decision to throw out plea deals for 9/11 alleged conspirators
Updated Oct 19, 2026, 9:51 AM ET / CNN
By John Fritze
The US issued charges on April 4, 2012, against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (file photo), along with four alleged plotters.
AFP/Getty Images/FILE
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to cancel plea agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants accused of plotting the 9/11 terror attack.
By denying the appeals, the high court left in place a decision from an appeals court last year that found Austin, who worked for former President Joe Biden, “indisputably” had authority to cancel the agreements, which had taken the death penalty off the table for the three alleged conspirators.
The decision puts the case back in the hands of military courts that have for years struggled to set a trial.
The agreements had prompted a backlash from some groups representing 9/11 victims and their families.
In separate appeals, Mohammed, Mustafa al Hawsawi, and Walid Bin ‘Attash argued that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overstepped its authority by siding with the government in the case.
“The practical effect of today’s denials of certiorari is to clear the way for the inexorable pre-trial proceedings in these cases to continue,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the justices to take up the appeals.
“It would be one thing if a trial were reasonably likely in the near future, but even the current summer 2028 trial date is entirely unrealistic given how many issues remain to be resolved.”
Trials against Mohammed and the others have been delayed for years as multiple presidential administrations have tried to determine how to handle the issue of the torture of individuals at CIA prisons, and the question of whether evidence obtained through torture was admissible in court.
The pretrial agreements were announced in 2024 after more than two years of negotiation. The agreements required that the accused plead guilty to all charges against them and undergo a public sentencing hearing in which they would be required to answer questions by family members and survivors of the September 11, 2001, attack.
Austin abruptly revoked those agreements two years ago, asserting that such a significant decision “should rest with me.” The Trump administration has continued to defend Austin’s decision to revoke the deals.
A military judge overseeing the trials of the three men ruled in 2024 that the plea agreements were “valid and enforceable.” A military appeals court ruled against Austin weeks later.
The agreements had prompted a backlash from some groups representing 9/11 victims and their families.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself from consideration of the case.
This story has been updated with additional details.
发表回复