Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, will face trial in 2028 along with three alleged co-conspirators. A military judge, Lt. Col. Michael Schrama, has scheduled the trial for June 5, 2028. This decision comes after rejecting a request from prosecutors to begin proceedings in January 2027. Mohammed and the other defendants have been detained at Guantánamo Bay since 2003 due to the protracted case stemming from the attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
Schrama highlighted that the prosecution’s suggested trial date of January 11, 2027, did not provide sufficient time to address outstanding pretrial issues. “A realistic trial date must account for the hearing and resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions, including the FBI LHM suppression motions,” Schrama noted.
The established scheduling order sets a series of deadlines and milestones leading up to the 2028 trial, maintaining current deadlines for ongoing pretrial litigation. The order specifies that jury selection, including assembly, challenges, and empanelment of commission members, will begin on June 5, 2028.
Opening statements are slated to commence 30 days after jury empanelment. Defendants can defer their opening statements until after prosecutorial presentations are concluded. Prosecutors will present evidence immediately after opening statements. Following the prosecution’s conclusion, defendants will have 14 days to pursue a not-guilty finding under the Rules for Military Commissions.
Prosecutors will have 14 days to respond to such motions, with an additional 7 days for defendants to reply. If prosecutors reopen their case to address deficiencies in the motion, they have 45 days after their initial presentation of evidence. Defendants are designated to start presenting evidence 60 days post-prosecution conclusion, with procedures also set for rebuttal evidence, additional not-guilty motions, and closing arguments.
Schrama has stipulated that, barring a valid cause, the commission will not provide extensions or continuances related to motions for findings of not guilty or presentation of rebuttal or surrebuttal evidence.
The trial date follows extensive legal maneuvers over prosecuting Mohammed and his co-defendants, including unsuccessful efforts to resolve the case through plea deals. In 2025, a divided federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s authority to retract plea agreements, which could have permitted Mohammed and two co-defendants to plead guilty with life imprisonment sentences in exchange, potentially removing the death penalty.
Austin asserted that the decision on eliminating capital punishment should be within the secretary of defense’s domain. The D.C. Circuit upheld this by a 2-1 vote, supporting Austin’s legal authority in retracting the agreements. Judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao stated in the majority opinion, “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.”
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Pakistani national, is accused of orchestrating the September 11 plot where hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, ended in Pennsylvania. The 2028 date establishes a timeline for the case, largely entangled in pretrial processes as the military commission addresses evidence disputes and other legal matters before initiating a merit trial.
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