Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is likely to go without a lawyer and use the trial as a stage for the expression of his ideas and the acting out of his martyrdom.

In Guantanamo, he has rejected the efforts of lawyers to protect his rights.

Even a lawyer for the ACLU, which has been helping to safeguard the rights of the terror gang, conceded that the likelihood they go it alone in court is high.

"It's quite possible that these defendants will undertake to represent themselves," Ben Wizner said. "They've been trying to fire their lawyers the whole time so they can be executed." 

Experts say it's possible Mohammed will plead guilty, seeking a quicker path to death.

 Experts also say that real American-style legal work on his case can be tremendously effective:

"The first thing they're going to do is challenge all of the evidence and say all of it is the fruit of waterboarding," [lawyer Alan] Dershowitz said.