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.

In ruling unanimously Wednesday for five officers attached to the Central Utah Narcotics Task Force, the court also abandoned a rigid, two-step test that it adopted in 2001 to guide judges in assessing alleged violations of constitutional rights.

Trial and appellate judges "should be permitted to exercise their sound discretion" in evaluating such claims, Justice Samuel Alito said in his opinion for the court.

Under the 2001 ruling, courts first had to determine whether an action amounts to a violation of a constitutional right and then decide whether the public official, often a police officer, should be immune from the civil lawsuit.

The case grew out of a search of the home of Afton Callahan of Millard County, Utah, in 2002.

An informant contacted police to tell them he had arranged to purchase drugs from Callahan at Callahan's trailer home.

Wearing a microphone provided by police, the informant entered the trailer and signaled police that a deal had been made. They entered the trailer without a warrant and arrested Callahan on charges of possession of methamphetamines.

Utah courts ruled that the evidence that was seized from Callahan's home could not be used against him. Other courts have allowed prosecutions to go forward under similar circumstances.

Callahan later sued the officers for violating his constitutional rights. A federal judge ruled the officers could not be sued because there is disagreement in the courts over whether the search was illegal.