Justin Antonipillai urged a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out the plea and order a new trial for Moussaoui, who once claimed to be part of the 2001 conspiracy but has since changed his story. Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison.

U.S. Justice Department attorney Kevin Gingras argued that Moussaoui, the only person to stand trial in a U.S. court in the 9/11 attacks, knew the trial judge was considering ways to get the favorable evidence to him but decided to plead guilty anyway.

"It was his choice to pull the plug on the process," said Gingras. The prosecutor said U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema "bent over backward" to ensure that Moussaoui understood what he was doing and the consequences.

The panel peppered both attorneys with questions for 90 minutes before closing the hearing for about an hour to consider matters involving classified information.

The court usually takes several weeks, or even months, to issue a decision.

In open court, Chief Judge Karen J. Williams sounded skeptical of Antonipillai's claim that Moussaoui's trial preparations were impaired by government secrecy that some of his constitutional rights were violated.

Williams wondered aloud how the court could conclude that the government would have continued to conceal the evidence had the case gone to trial. She also noted Moussaoui testified that he was supposed to hijack a fifth plane and crash it into the White House.

Antonipillai said Moussaoui had "delusions of grandeur," and his confession was contradicted by alleged 9/11 ringleader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who said Moussaoui was training for a different operation and had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The court on Monday unanimously overruled an Arizona appeals court that threw out evidence found during such an encounter.

The case involved a 2002 pat-down search of an Eloy, Ariz., man by an Oro Valley police officer, who found a gun and marijuana.

The justices accepted Arizona's argument that traffic stops are inherently dangerous for police and that pat-downs are permissible when an officer has a reasonable suspicion that the passenger may be armed and dangerous.

The pat-down is allowed if the police "harbor reasonable suspicion that a person subjected to the frisk is armed, and therefore dangerous to the safety of the police and public," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to helping plan the 2001 terrorist attacks. His lawyers now claim court-imposed secrecy undermined Moussaoui's ability to present an adequate defense, so the plea should be thrown out and a new trial granted.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals will conduct Monday's hearing in two parts. They'll meet in open court and then close the hearing for matters involving classified information.

The Findlay, Ohio-based tire company's lawsuit sought $189 million from attorney John Booth Farese of Ashland, the Farese law firm and attorney Bruce Kaster of Ocala, Fla. It stemmed from the release of a legal document that Cooper claims hurt its stock.

Terms of the settlement announced Wednesday were not disclosed.

"Cooper Tire is very pleased with the settlement of this case," said Cooper Tire spokeswoman Patricia J. Brown. She declined further comment, citing the confidentiality of the settlement.

Cooper Tire attorney Randall Smith of New Orleans said he was a little disappointed the case didn't go to trial.

"We were ready to try the case," he said. "But settlement's in the best interests of all concerned. You never know the outcome" of a trial.

Farese and Kaster said they were satisfied with the results.

According to court documents, Cooper Tire alleged that former employee Cathy Barnett signed a separation agreement with a clause that prevented her from making negative comments about the company.

The tire manufacturer claimed that despite the agreement, Barnett executed an affidavit, prepared with Farese, containing false and disparaging statements about Cooper Tire.

Farese provided Barnett's affidavit to another attorney, who provided it to Kaster for use in a lawsuit against Cooper Tire in Arkansas. Cooper Tire alleged Kaster, the attorney for families of four Arkansas residents killed in a 1998 accident blamed on a tire blowout, leaked the affidavit to the media. That case was settled in 2002.

The affidavit had to do with the destruction of company documents by Barnett and another worker on the order of a Cooper Tire official in Tupelo. Barnett said the documents were related to the Arkansas lawsuit.

As a result, Cooper Tire claimed its stock lost substantial value.

The company alleged Kaster paid Farese $50,000 after the Arkansas lawsuit was settled.

Farese contended in court documents that he was protecting his client and insists Cooper Tire wasn't damaged.

Kaster said in court papers that he learned about the affidavit from an attorney associated with the Cooper Tire case in Arkansas and went after it to benefit his own client, saying the media already had access to it.

Attorney Samuel E. Adam told The Associated Press on Thursday that a lawsuit challenging what he called "completely unfair" Senate trial rules is being prepared and could be filed to the state Supreme Court within days, pending a final decision on whether to move forward.

Blagojevich's trial is set to begin Monday.

The governor told the AP he has no intention of mounting a defense unless rules are changed before the Senate trial that will determine whether he's thrown out of office.

"Give me a right to call witnesses, give me a right to subpoena witnesses and documents, to properly prepare a case — and I'll be the first one there," said Blagojevich, whose voice rose as he spoke. Otherwise, "I'm not going to be a party to a process like that.

"And if it means I have to sacrifice myself to a higher cause, for the people of Illinois and for the principle of due process and the right to call witnesses, then so be it," Blagojevich said.

But Blagojevich added he does not intend to resign.

"I'm not going to resign, of course not," he said. "I've done absolutely nothing wrong."

In an outline of potential arguments provided to the AP, Adam critcized House impeachment proceedings for denying Blagojevich's attorneys the right to cross-examine witnesses. It also said senators must accept House evidence that assumes various claims against the governor are true, such as federal corruption charges and allegations Blagojevich illegally expanded a health care program.

The judges rejected Franken's argument on Thursday that their review should be confined to determining if the recount was mathematically correct, saying the court has jurisdiction to determine whether votes were legally cast.

Republican Norm Coleman is suing over a recount that ended with Franken up by 225 votes. Coleman's lawsuit alleges that it's an artificial lead based on the double-counting of some ballots and other inconsistencies in some precincts.

The judges did not validate those allegations in refusing to dismiss the case, saying: "It is immaterial whether or not the plaintiff can prove the facts alleged."

Coleman's attorney, Ben Ginsberg, called the decision a "stinging defeat" for Franken.

"We look forward to the trial commencing on Monday," Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, said in a statement.

The judges denied a request by Coleman's lawyers to order counties to ship about 12,000 rejected absentee ballots to the court so that they could be quickly accessible once the court decides whether they should be counted. No explanation was given for the rejection.

Coleman on Thursday also asked the three judges to order inspectors into 86 Minnesota precincts where his lawyers believe there were irregularities in the vote count.

The inspectors would "go to those precincts where there are still questions and try to settle them," said Ginsberg. One inspector would represent Coleman, another Franken and the last would be neutral. Unsettled disputes would presumably be forwarded for consideration in the election trial.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Tampa district judge's ruling in the case of Youssef Samir Megahed, a former University of South Florida student charged with possession of a destructive device.

Megahed, 22, and a companion were arrested in South Carolina in August 2007 after deputies said they found explosives in the trunk of their car during a traffic stop. Defense attorneys have characterized the items as homemade fireworks.

Prosecutors had appealed the judge's decision to throw out the videos found on a computer at Megahed's home, saying they were essential to the case. They showed Qassam rockets, the type of rockets used by Hamas militants against Israel, and the use of improvised explosive devices and attacks against military forces in the Middle East.

"We're obviously pleased with the 11th Circuit ruling, and we hope to get this thing to trial finally," said Megahed's attorney, Adam Allen.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Steve Cole declined to comment.

Megahed's companion, Ahmed Mohamed, 27, pleaded guilty last year to aiding terrorists by making a YouTube video demonstrating how to make a remote detonator for a bomb. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The video was found on his laptop computer that was in the car when the men were stopped for speeding near Charleston, S.C.

Megahed is not charged in connection with that video.