In re September 11 Litigation
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
621 F. Supp. 2d 131 (2009)
- Written by Kyli Cotten, JD
Facts
Those with claims for wrongful death and property damage arising out of the September 11 terrorist attacks (plaintiffs) filed a variety of suits against several airlines (defendants) for their alleged negligence in failing to stop the attacks. The defendants’ collective defense was that the terrorist attacks would have happened regardless of any acts or omissions by the defendants. In support of this defense, the defendants sought to introduce a document containing the substituted testimony of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a terrorist involved with the attacks. The substituted testimony was admitted at the punishment phase of another terrorist’s criminal trial. The document containing the substituted testimony was obtained by government intelligence during Mohammed’s custody at Guantanamo Bay. The document was a summary of his responses during interrogation and was written and compiled by multiple interrogators over time. In the criminal trial it was offered in, the defense stipulated to its admission.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hellerstein, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.