Supreme Court Rejects KSM 9/11 Plea Deal, Trial Set for 2028

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort to revive a plea agreement for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Associated Press, reported by The Guardian. The ruling leaves intact a decision that scrapped a deal sparing Mohammed the risk of execution.

What did the Supreme Court decide on Monday?

The justices declined to reinstate the agreement, which had been approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon's senior official for Guantánamo Bay before then-defense secretary Lloyd Austin threw it out in 2024, the AP reported. A divided federal appeals court panel had already found that Austin acted within his authority, and Monday's order lets that ruling stand.

What was in the rejected plea deal?

Under the terms negotiated with military prosecutors, Mohammed would have pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole, removing the death penalty from consideration, according to the Guardian's account. Two co-defendants were part of related agreements.

Case by the numbers:

• 25 years since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
• 2028 — the year a trial date has now been set, per the AP

Who is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and what is he accused of?

Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, according to the Guardian.

Why did Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin block the agreement?

Austin, who served under President Joe Biden, said a decision on the death penalty in an attack as grave as September 11 should rest with the defense secretary alone, the AP reported. Defense attorneys for Mohammed argued Austin moved too late to undo an agreement already approved through the military justice process. The appeals court panel disagreed, ruling by a divided vote that Austin's intervention fell within his authority.

How do the families of victims view the ruling?

Relatives of the September 11 victims were split on the plea agreements for Mohammed and his co-defendants, according to the Guardian. Some argued a full trial was the only path to justice; others saw the plea deal as the best chance to bring a long-running legal process to a close after a quarter-century.

What happens next in the case?

With the plea deal dead and the Supreme Court declining to intervene, the case moves toward a military trial now scheduled for 2028, the AP reported. That timeline keeps the proceeding running toward its third decade since the attacks, with no sentencing resolution yet in place for Mohammed or his co-defendants.

No additional court dates beyond the 2028 trial setting were detailed in the reporting reviewed for this story.