This photo obtained 01 March, 2003, shows, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks, shortly after his capture. (Photo by HO / AFP) (Photo by -/HO/AFP via Getty Images)
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and three alleged co-conspirators will stand trial in 2028, a military judge ruled Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Michael Schrama set the trial for June 5, 2028, rejecting prosecutors’ request to begin proceedings in January 2027. Mohammed and the three other defendants have been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2003 in the long-delayed case stemming from the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Schrama said the prosecution’s proposed Jan. 11, 2027, trial date did not leave enough time to resolve outstanding pretrial matters.
"A realistic trial date must account for the hearing and resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions, including the FBI LHM suppression motions," Schrama wrote.
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The scheduling order establishes a series of deadlines and milestones for the case leading up to the June 2028 trial, while leaving existing deadlines governing ongoing pretrial litigation in place.
"The TSO issued today serves as the overarching scaffolding. It assumes the successful completion of the deadlines in the AE 989O TCO and the FBI LHM TCO and establishes milestones leading to a trial on the merits starting on Monday, 5 June 2028," Schrama wrote.
Under the order, jury selection, including assembly, challenges and empanelment of commission members, will begin June 5, 2028.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin 30 days after the members are empaneled. The defendants may choose to defer their opening statements until prosecutors have finished presenting their case.
This undated FBI file image shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as he appeared on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists website. (FBI/FBI/AFP via Getty Images)
Prosecutors will begin presenting evidence immediately after opening statements conclude. Once the prosecution rests, the defendants will have 14 days to seek a finding of not guilty under the Rules for Military Commissions.
The prosecution would then have 14 days to respond to such a motion, followed by seven days for the defendant to reply. If prosecutors choose to reopen their case to address an alleged deficiency raised in the motion, the order gives them 45 days after the conclusion of their initial presentation of evidence to do so.
The defendants are scheduled to begin presenting their own evidence 60 days after prosecutors conclude their case-in-chief. The order also sets procedures for rebuttal and surrebuttal evidence, additional motions for findings of not guilty and closing arguments.
Schrama wrote that, absent good cause, the commission will not grant extensions or continuances involving motions for findings of not guilty or the presentation of rebuttal or surrebuttal evidence.
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Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was previously on the Most Wanted Terrorist list. (Mai/Getty Images)
The trial date comes after years of legal wrangling over the prosecution of Mohammed and his co-defendants, including a failed effort to resolve the case through plea agreements.
A divided federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled in 2025 that then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had the authority to withdraw from plea agreements that would have allowed Mohammed and two co-defendants to plead guilty in exchange for sentences of life in prison without parole, potentially taking the death penalty off the table.
Austin argued that a decision on whether to remove the possibility of capital punishment should rest with the secretary of defense. The D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 that Austin acted within his legal authority when he withdrew the agreements.
"Having properly assumed the convening authority, the Secretary determined that the families and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out," Judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao wrote in the majority opinion. "The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment."
Mohammed, a Pakistani national, is accused of spearheading the Sept. 11, 2001, plot in which hijackers crashed commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania.
The 2028 date sets a timetable for a case that has remained in pretrial proceedings for years as the military commission has addressed disputes over evidence and other legal issues before a trial on the merits can begin.
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