Moussaoui’s lawyers call his guilty plea invalid

Lawyers for 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui, now serving life in prison, told a federal appeals court in Richmond this morning that his 2005 guilty plea was not valid.

They told a three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Moussaoui's plea was not a knowing, "counseled" plea because his trial lawyers could not tell him about classified evidence the government had that could help his case.

Government attorneys argued today that Moussaoui's guilty plea in federal court in Alexandria was made over the objections of his lawyers, that he knew "the gist" of the evidence in question and that he waived forever any challenge to it.

The first part of the hearing began today in open court at 9:30 a.m. The second part was closed because classified matters were discussed and ended around 12:15 p.m. Moussaoui is seeking to have his plea set aside and to be granted a new trial.

It is unclear when the appeals court will rule.