Military judge rules Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessions inadmissible

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Military judge rules Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessions inadmissible?

Of the 72 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 21% are rated left, 29% are rated centre, 50% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 144. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.

Is Military judge rules Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessions inadmissible left or right?

Neither side dominates it. Of the 72 rated outlets on this story, 21% are rated left, 29% are rated centre, 50% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.

Is the coverage of Military judge rules Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessions inadmissible biased?

Military judge rules Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessions inadmissible is one event reported by 144 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.

Which side is not reporting Military judge rules Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessions inadmissible?

When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.

Which outlets covered Military judge rules Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessions inadmissible?

144 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.

What did the military judge rule about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confessions?

Military judge Lt. Col. Michael Schrama ruled that confessions made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to FBI agents in 2007 were not voluntary and cannot be used against him at trial. He cited psychological conditioning, coercion, and a failure to inform Mohammed of his rights.

Why were the confessions ruled inadmissible?

The judge cited an 'unbroken continuation of the CIA’s psychological conditioning and severe coercion' as a factor. He also found that FBI agents failed to explicitly inform Mohammed of his right to remain silent and to consult a lawyer.

How important were these confessions to the prosecution?

Prosecutors had described these 2007 statements as the government's most crucial evidence in the death penalty case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of masterminding the September 11 attacks.