Moussaoui Gets Life In Supermax Prison
Needless to say, this did not make my day. I'm pretty ticked that a jury in this nation couldn't figure out that this man, who wanted to kill US citizens, deserves the death penalty. No. Instead the spineless jury decided it's best he stay alive on our dime. The WaPo presents our story. (HT: Captain Ed.)
A federal jury decided today that Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui should be sentenced to life in prison, rejecting government arguments that he should be executed for his role in the deadliest terrorist strike on American soil.
"America, you lost. I won!" Moussaoui yelled as he was escorted from the U.S. District courtroom in Alexandria after the verdict was read. He clapped his hands as he left.
President Bush said in a statement, "The end of this trial represents the end of this case, but not an end to the fight against terror. The enemy that struck our shores on September 11th is still active, and remains determined to kill Americans. We will stay on the offensive against the terrorists."
Bush noted that Moussaoui had "openly rejoiced" at the deaths of Americans and said the jury "concluded that this man should spend the rest of his life in prison." He did not venture a personal view on the verdict.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is scheduled to formally sentence Moussaoui at 10 a.m. Thursday and is bound by the jury's recommendation, a court spokesman said.
Federal prosecutors had spent four years seeking Moussaoui's execution and had the benefit of a defendant who many thought wanted to die. The verdict culminated one of the most contentious and convoluted prosecutions in recent history, a case that nearly derailed at numerous points but ended with the simplicity of a court clerk reading a verdict before a hushed courtroom.
As the verdict was announced, family members of Sept. 11 victims, who had long awaited this day, showed little visible reaction. Moussaoui rolled his eyes and looked glum.
Moments later, Edward Adams, the court spokesman, announced the verdict outside the courthouse and said the 12 jurors "were not unanimous" in favor of a death sentence for Moussaoui, meaning that he automatically gets a life sentence without possibility of parole. He said the verdict does not indicate how many jurors voted for a death sentence and how many opted to keep the defendant in prison.
The decision came after about 41 hours of deliberation over seven days. Nine of the 12 jurors found that Moussaoui's dysfunctional childhood was a "mitigating factor" favoring a life sentence.
The jury as a whole found that prosecutors had failed to prove one of the three key "aggravating factors" that the government said called for Moussaoui's execution: that he committed his crimes in an "especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner." Jurors also declined to find Moussaoui, who was sitting in a jail on Sept. 11, responsible for the nearly 3,000 deaths that day.
At the end of their 42-page verdict form, three jurors wrote in an additional factor in their decision: that Moussaoui "had limited knowledge of the 9/11 attack plans."
Paul McNulty, a deputy attorney general, said outside the courthouse that Moussaoui's lies to federal agents had allowed the Sept. 11 terrorists to carry out their plans.
Normally, we'd post the whole story, but I'm no wasting our reader's time on five pages of bravo-sierra. Ther point here is dirt simple: The government attorneys failed to give the jury what it needed to reach a decision for the death penalty. And I still call the jury spinelss. They know his comments, his demeanor in the court, and what he is all about. They know that his lies to investigators assisted his comrades here to pull off their attack on 11 September. I know that when one sits on a jury, they can't do so with a preconceived notion of guilt or innocence.
However, knowing what they did know, and seeing what they did see, I fail to understand how they couldn't come up with a finding in favor of the death penalty. So, while he'll be in the SuperMax facility for the rest of his life, American taxpayers--including victim's families from 11 September--have to pay for this piece of trash. And Lord knows the havoc he can wreak while there. No one knows what steps he may take to pass on the vitriolic, barbaric ideology he adheres to.
What should happen is once his butt gets there, someone needs to step up and kill the SOB. We win this war by killing our enemies, not by simply locking them up. No, no. It's time we sent a message, and this jury, in my opinion, dropped the ball. I also think the government dropped the ball. All in all, he got what he wanted, which was proving that, once again, America (specifically those on the jury) lack the fortitude to make a tough decision.
Publius II
Needless to say, this did not make my day. I'm pretty ticked that a jury in this nation couldn't figure out that this man, who wanted to kill US citizens, deserves the death penalty. No. Instead the spineless jury decided it's best he stay alive on our dime. The WaPo presents our story. (HT: Captain Ed.)
A federal jury decided today that Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui should be sentenced to life in prison, rejecting government arguments that he should be executed for his role in the deadliest terrorist strike on American soil.
"America, you lost. I won!" Moussaoui yelled as he was escorted from the U.S. District courtroom in Alexandria after the verdict was read. He clapped his hands as he left.
President Bush said in a statement, "The end of this trial represents the end of this case, but not an end to the fight against terror. The enemy that struck our shores on September 11th is still active, and remains determined to kill Americans. We will stay on the offensive against the terrorists."
Bush noted that Moussaoui had "openly rejoiced" at the deaths of Americans and said the jury "concluded that this man should spend the rest of his life in prison." He did not venture a personal view on the verdict.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is scheduled to formally sentence Moussaoui at 10 a.m. Thursday and is bound by the jury's recommendation, a court spokesman said.
Federal prosecutors had spent four years seeking Moussaoui's execution and had the benefit of a defendant who many thought wanted to die. The verdict culminated one of the most contentious and convoluted prosecutions in recent history, a case that nearly derailed at numerous points but ended with the simplicity of a court clerk reading a verdict before a hushed courtroom.
As the verdict was announced, family members of Sept. 11 victims, who had long awaited this day, showed little visible reaction. Moussaoui rolled his eyes and looked glum.
Moments later, Edward Adams, the court spokesman, announced the verdict outside the courthouse and said the 12 jurors "were not unanimous" in favor of a death sentence for Moussaoui, meaning that he automatically gets a life sentence without possibility of parole. He said the verdict does not indicate how many jurors voted for a death sentence and how many opted to keep the defendant in prison.
The decision came after about 41 hours of deliberation over seven days. Nine of the 12 jurors found that Moussaoui's dysfunctional childhood was a "mitigating factor" favoring a life sentence.
The jury as a whole found that prosecutors had failed to prove one of the three key "aggravating factors" that the government said called for Moussaoui's execution: that he committed his crimes in an "especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner." Jurors also declined to find Moussaoui, who was sitting in a jail on Sept. 11, responsible for the nearly 3,000 deaths that day.
At the end of their 42-page verdict form, three jurors wrote in an additional factor in their decision: that Moussaoui "had limited knowledge of the 9/11 attack plans."
Paul McNulty, a deputy attorney general, said outside the courthouse that Moussaoui's lies to federal agents had allowed the Sept. 11 terrorists to carry out their plans.
Normally, we'd post the whole story, but I'm no wasting our reader's time on five pages of bravo-sierra. Ther point here is dirt simple: The government attorneys failed to give the jury what it needed to reach a decision for the death penalty. And I still call the jury spinelss. They know his comments, his demeanor in the court, and what he is all about. They know that his lies to investigators assisted his comrades here to pull off their attack on 11 September. I know that when one sits on a jury, they can't do so with a preconceived notion of guilt or innocence.
However, knowing what they did know, and seeing what they did see, I fail to understand how they couldn't come up with a finding in favor of the death penalty. So, while he'll be in the SuperMax facility for the rest of his life, American taxpayers--including victim's families from 11 September--have to pay for this piece of trash. And Lord knows the havoc he can wreak while there. No one knows what steps he may take to pass on the vitriolic, barbaric ideology he adheres to.
What should happen is once his butt gets there, someone needs to step up and kill the SOB. We win this war by killing our enemies, not by simply locking them up. No, no. It's time we sent a message, and this jury, in my opinion, dropped the ball. I also think the government dropped the ball. All in all, he got what he wanted, which was proving that, once again, America (specifically those on the jury) lack the fortitude to make a tough decision.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 5:24 PM
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