Moussaoui Wanted to Testify Against Himself

[NNN0LHI]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MOUSSAOUI?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui offered last month to testify for prosecutors against himself at his death-penalty trial and told agents that he did not want to die in prison, according to last-minute testimony Tuesday.

The bizarre testimony capped a trial that has seen more than its share of the unusual over three tumultuous weeks. Introduced as part of a brief government rebuttal case, this testimony may be the firmest evidence the 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent hopes for martyrdom through execution and could provide fodder for the closing arguments of both prosecutors and Moussaoui's court-appointed defense attorneys.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema set Wednesday afternoon for closing arguments on whether the actions Moussaoui has admitted make him eligible for the death penalty. The jury must decide whether the only man charged in this country in the Sept. 11 plot will be executed or imprisoned for life.

Moussaoui offered on Feb. 2, just before jury selection began, to testify that he was to have hijacked and piloted a fifth plane on Sept. 11, 2001. He did not ask that prosecutors stop pursuing the death penalty in return. He sought only better conditions in prison and a promise not to be called to testify against other al-Qaida members.

[EFerrari]

1. I think using someone's schizophrenia in this way should

be illegal. It seems as though it used to be when we had the rule of law. :(

[upi402]

2. No pity for zealots, or the BushBots who love them

:nopity:

[kurth]

3. He's an idiot. If he wants to die, let him.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Kinda Takes the Penalty out of "Death Penalty" if They Want It

I think this happens more often than we realize, and it is another argument for abolishing the death penalty.