Judge mulling dismissal of Moussaoui death penalty

By Deborah Charles

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday
was considering whether to dismiss the death penalty case
against September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui after a
government lawyer violated a rule on sharing information with
witnesses.

“In all the years I’ve been on the bench, I’ve never seen
such an egregious violation of the court’s rule on witnesses,”
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said.

She then recessed the court, before jurors were brought in,
to decide whether to dismiss the possible death sentence for
Moussaoui, who last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy in
connection with the September 11 attacks, and instead sentence
him to life in prison.

Moussaoui, 37, an admitted al Qaeda member and the only
person convicted in the United States in connection with the
hijackings, is represented by a team of court-appointed
lawyers, which he has repeatedly denounced in court.

He also has cursed America and smiled during accounts of
the four airplanes that were slammed into the World Trade
Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly
3,000 people.

Brinkema said a lawyer for the Federal Aviation
Administration had violated the rule by reading the transcript
of the first day of the trial and discussing the case with
several potential witnesses who were due to be called by both
the prosecution and the defense.

Brinkema said the lawyer, identified only as “Ms. Martin,”
had read transcripts of the opening arguments and discussed
some of the testimony with potential witnesses.

Defense lawyer Edward MacMahon asked Brinkema to rule that
Moussaoui cannot be sentenced to death for his crimes.

“This is not going to be a fair trial,” MacMahon said.

“The proceedings just should be dismissed and Mr. Moussaoui
sentenced to life in prison,” he added.

The defense already had requested a mistrial following an
error by the government during the questioning of an FBI
witness.

“This is the second significant error by the government
affecting the constitutional rights of this defendant,”
Brinkema said. “More importantly, it affects the integrity of
the criminal justice system of the United States.”

The sentencing trial started March 6 and was expected to
last up to three months.