Moussaoui Lashes Out at Defense Lawyers

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Moussaoui Lashes Out at Defense Lawyers Thu Apr 13, 12:56 PM

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, taking the witness stand Thursday, argued that he can't get a fair trial so close to the Pentagon and denied he was trying to sabotage his defense by testifying earlier that he was to have piloted a fifth plane on Sept. 11, 2001.
Moussaoui, as defiant on the witness stand as he has been at the defendant's table throughout the trial, testified against the advice of his court-appointed lawyers and attacked them before the jury that has to decide whether he should be executed.
Defense lawyer Gerald Zerkin asked Moussaoui if he thought he was helping his case when he testified the first time that he planned to pilot a plane into the White House on Sept. 11.
"I was putting my trust in God, so from an Islamic point of view, yes," Moussaoui responded, though he acknowledged that non-Muslims might view his testimony as harmful to his case.
When Moussaoui was asked by Zerkin what his defense would have been if he'd had a Muslim attorney of his choice, he suggested that he could have been part of a prisoner swap, in which he could have been exchanged for imprisoned American troops around the world.
"This would work with even the most vengeful juror," Moussaoui said.
Defense lawyers have said Moussaoui is lying about his role in Sept. 11 - the worst terrorism attack ever on U.S. soil - in the hopes of achieving martyrdom through execution.
Moussaoui testified Thursday that "for the last four years, I have been fighting" against the death penalty.
Moussaoui said he considered the consequences of his previous testimony about his role in Sept. 11 and "decided to just put my trust in God, tell the truth and time will tell."
Assailing his court-appointed lawyers, Moussaoui said, "You have put your vested interest in keeping this case in your hands, above my interest to save my life."
Zerkin had asked him if he believed that his defense team was in a conspiracy to kill him. Moussaoui responded that they have been engaged in "criminal non-assistance."
Specifically, he said the lawyers should have sought a change of venue from Virginia because Virginia jurors are more likely to give the death penalty because of the proximity of the Pentagon, which was hit on Sept. 11, 2001, along with the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. The Pentagon is in nearby Arlington, Va.
One of the first motions that Moussaoui filed when he won the right to represent himself in 2002 was seeking a change of venue.
Moussaoui had requested a change of venue when he was representing himself in April 2002, citing an overrepresentation of U.S. government employees in the area. He also said there was more intense media attention in the northern Virginia area due to the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, however, rejected the claim and said Moussaoui would be able to get an impartial jury.
Earlier, Moussaoui's lawyers opened his defense by seeking to convince jurors to spare his life and put him in a place from which he could never escape.
An expert on prison policy and management testified that if Moussaoui is spared the death penalty he would spend the rest of his life in the highest-security federal prison facilities after he is sentenced.
James E. Aiken, the first defense witness in the second phase of Moussaoui's death-penalty trial, said Moussaoui would always require the highest level of supervision and would be isolated not only from the outside world but also from other prisoners.
"I don't care how good he is ... I don't care how compliant he is. He will be in the security envelope as long as he lives," Aiken said.
On cross examination, Aiken acknowledged that Moussaoui regularly taunts his guards and that guards have twice had to forcibly remove him from his cell.
"He's not going to be inmate of the year," Aiken conceded.
The jury took an extended break when lawyers went into a closed hearing in late morning. Moussaoui, as he was led out of the courtroom, bellowed, "Victory for Moussaoui! God curse you all!"
Moussaoui's defense team over the next several days is expected to argue that his life should be spared because of his limited role in the 9/11 attacks. They plan to present evidence that he is mentally ill and that his execution would only play into his dream of martyrdom.
One witness the defense intends to call is would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid, who is serving a life sentence in Colorado.
Defense lawyers have suggested that Moussaoui lied during his testimony to ensure he would be executed and achieve martyrdom. They have also said Moussaoui is merely "an al-Qaida hanger-on" who is seeking to inflate his stature.
Mental health evidence will include the history of schizophrenia in Moussaoui's family. A defense expert has said that Moussaoui probably suffers from schizophrenia, but Moussaoui has refused to cooperated with defense doctors' evaluations.
It is also likely that some family members of Sept. 11 victims will testify for the defense as the court-appointed lawyers try to counter those who testified for the government. Some family members have stated publicly that they do not want Moussaoui to be executed. Trial rules, however, prohibit witnesses from offering their opinion on whether Moussaoui should live or die.
The jury that will decide whether Moussaoui is executed or sentenced to life in prison has already heard from dozens of Sept. 11 family members, who offered agonizing, emotional testimony about the aftermath of their loved ones' deaths.
Moussaoui is the only person charged in this country in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. The jury deciding his fate has already declared him eligible for the death penalty by determining that his actions caused at least one death on Sept. 11.
Even though he was in jail in Minnesota at the time of the attacks, the jury ruled that lies told by Moussaoui to federal agents a month before the attacks kept them from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.
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Associated Press Writer Michael J. Sniffen contributed to this report.
Source The Associated Press
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