In preparing for the Sept. 11 case, he increased efforts to strike plea deals with detainees accused of lesser crimes in exchange for voluntary testimony against more significant suspects.
The American Civil Liberties Union, while applauding the decision to stop pursuing the Constitutional amendment, said the legislation could make it more difficult to strike plea bargains that can lead to testimony against other criminals.
The ruling left prosecutors and defense lawyers in a quandary about how to strike plea bargains and prompted Gov. George E. Pataki to call for changes to the law.
Attorney General John Ashcroft today made it tougher for federal prosecutors to strike plea bargains with criminal defendants, requiring attorneys to seek the most serious charges possible in almost all cases.
In a ruling in March, in another corruption case involving chemical firm Innospec, Lord Justice Thomas said the SFO had no power to strike plea bargains and that judges were responsible for deciding sentences.
Since taking over as chief military prosecutor last fall, Mark S. Martins, a brigadier general in the Army, has sharply increased efforts to strike plea deals with low-level detainees in return for agreements to provide voluntary testimony against more significant terrorist suspects, adopting a familiar tactic in the traditional civilian criminal justice system.
Since the introduction of tougher sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums in the 1980s and 1990s, more and more routine drug offences have been heard in federal courts, particularly as prosecutors seek maximum penalties to encourage lower-level drug dealers and mules to strike plea bargains.
This information, which a decade ago could only be obtained by laborious hands-on research, has caused growing concern for the safety of informants and the ability of prosecutors to strike plea deals for cooperation.
The government's deal with Dr. Gilman, legal experts say, could put pressure on Mr. Martoma to strike a plea deal and cooperate.
