US Judge Rules Terror Attack Suspect Mentally Competent to Plead Guilty

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, July 26, 2002

US Judge Rules Terror Attack Suspect Mentally Competent to Plead Guilty

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A US federal judge ruled on Thursday that Zacarias Moussaoui, the first suspect accused of conspiring attacks on September 11, is mentally competent to pleadguilty to terrorism charges that could bring him the death penalty.

At a district court in Alexandria, Virginia, Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected a request by the court appointed attorneys to delay a hearing to further consider Moussaoui's mental health.

This means Moussaoui may have another chance to enter a guilty plea on Thursday. He tried last week to plead guilty to the conspiracy charges he faces, but Brinkema refused to accept, asking him to put off the decision by one week.

On Wednesday, Moussaoui's court-appointed attorneys filed a motion again challenging whether the 34-year-old French citizen ofMoroccan descent is competent to represent himself.

On June 13, Brinkema decided that he was competent, and demotedhis trio of Virginia-based court-appointed attorneys to "standby" status upon his request.

Although he was arrested on immigration charges almost a month before the September 11 attacks, Moussaoui is charged with six counts of conspiracy stemming from the September 11 attacks. Four of the six charges carry death penalty.

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