The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s request to restore a 2024 plea agreement that would have spared him and two co-defendants the death penalty. The unsigned order gave no explanation, and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh did not participate in the decision.
Mohammed, Walid bin ‘Atash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi are accused of participating in the planning and execution of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which killed 2,976 people. Their agreements required guilty pleas in exchange for life sentences without parole, while the government agreed not to seek execution.
Military prosecutors and the official overseeing the Guantanamo military commissions approved the agreements in late July 2024. Two days after the agreements were signed, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin withdrew from them, arguing that a decision involving the death penalty in a crime of that magnitude should be made by the defense secretary.
A military judge later ruled that Austin’s withdrawal was invalid and allowed the defendants to proceed toward guilty pleas. The Court of Military Commission Review also declined to enforce Austin’s withdrawal, finding that the defendants had begun performing under the agreements. Circuit reversed those decisions in July 2025, holding that Austin had authority to withdraw and that the agreements did not show the defendants had begun performing their promises.
The Supreme Court’s denial leaves the plea agreements unenforceable and the death penalty available if the case reaches trial. A trial date has been set for 2028, while the prosecution remains tied to long-running disputes over statements made during the defendants’ detention in CIA custody and whether later interrogations can be used in court.