By: (AP)
USA Today's publisher asked a judge Tuesday to permit public use of cockpit tape recordings and transcripts if they are introduced as evidence in the trial of accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema responded that the request was premature because she hasn't decided whether to allow the government to use the tapes. She asked the government to provide her with a copy of the recordings and any transcripts prepared from them so she could privately review them.
The newspaper's court motion was a reaction to a motion by prosecutors, who said they planned to play recordings from United Flight 93 but asked that the recordings not be available outside the courtroom. The hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers stormed the cockpit.
Gannett Satellite Information Network Inc., which publishes
USA Today, said the tapes would be played in court for their emotional impact, not to determine Moussaoui's guilt or innocence.
The newspaper does not seek to intensify the pain inflicted on families of the attack victims, the motion said, and suggested that Brinkema determine which portions of the tape should be withheld.
The government had cited a law that prevents disclosure of cockpit voice recordings, except in a courtroom. In this instance, the newspaper said, the recordings already have been disclosed to other government agencies and were played for some relatives of the victims of Flight 93.
"Because the tapes have already been disclosed, the statute's mandate simply does not apply," the newspaper said.
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