CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The future of how terrorism is prosecuted is at stake this morning in a Richmond, Virginia courtroom. A federal appeals court will hear arguments on how the case against Zacarias Moussaoui should proceed. CNN's justice correspondent Kelli Arena sorts it all out for you.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These boxes represent thousands of hours of work as prosecutors piece together a historical and personal record of victims of the September 11 attacks. Government lawyers say the information can play a crucial role in the case against the only man charged in the U.S. in connection with the September 11 plot, Zacarias Moussaoui.</s>PAUL MCNULTY, U.S. ATTORNEY: We wanted to know who are some of the victims that have the most compelling stories to tell to give the jury a sense of what kind of scope, what kind of depth of suffering occurred.</s>ARENA: But the stories contained in these boxes may never be heard in court. The judge overseeing the case ruled the government could not use any evidence relating to the September 11 attacks and that it could not seek the death penalty. The decision served as a punishment against the government for defying a previous order to allow Moussaoui access to three al Qaeda leaders in U.S. custody that he claimed could help clear him.</s>FRANK DUNHAM, MOUSSAOUI'S ATTORNEY: The witnesses would take Moussaoui out of 9/11. So it seems fair that if he loses his witnesses that would take him out of 9/11, the government shouldn't be able to try to prove 9/11.</s>ARENA: Prosecutors say the detainees, held overseas, are outside the reach of U.S. courts and that interrupting interrogations would interfere with the war on terror. (on camera): If the government is not successful in its appeal, there's always the option to declare Moussaoui an enemy combatant and place him in military custody. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
Federal Appeals Court Will Hear Arguments on How Case Against Moussaoui Should Proceed