Carla J. Martin's moment of infamy ended nearly as quickly as it began.
An obscure government lawyer, she had been a minor player in the most major of cases: the death penalty trial of Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. But that all changed in an instant, when she violated a court order by sharing testimony with witnesses and coaching them about what to say.
Suddenly, the former flight attendant rocketed across TV screens and newspaper front pages, cast as the villain whose misconduct nearly derailed the prosecution's case. Berated by a federal judge, Martin, 51, walked out of an Alexandria courtroom with her head down -- and back into anonymity. |