Moussaoui sentenced to life in prison
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-04 19:48
Patricia Reilly, who lost her sister Lorraine Lee in the New York attacks,
was deflated. "I guess in this country you can kill 3,000 people and not pay
with your life," she said. "I feel very much let down by this country."
It is not known how many jurors wanted Moussaoui sentenced to life and how
many wanted a death sentence. Under federal law, a defendant automatically
receives life in prison when a jury is split. The 42-page verdict form gives no
indication on how, or if, the jury split.
The jury rejected two key defense arguments ¡ª that Moussaoui suffers a mental
illness and that executing him would make him a martyr. No jurors indicated on
the verdict form that they gave any weight to those arguments.
Nine jurors found that Moussaoui suffered a difficult childhood in a
dysfunctional family where he spent many of his early years in and out of
orphanages. Three found that Moussaoui only played a minor role in 9/11.
Defense lawyer Gerald Zerkin said outside court that "it was obvious that
they thought his role in 9/11 was not very great and that played a significant
role in their decision."
Prosecutors, who pursued the Moussaoui case for 4 1/2 years, declared
themselves satisfied with the jury's verdict.
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, who was chief prosecutor in Alexandria
in December 2001 when Moussaoui first was charged, noted that the jury in the
trial's first phase found Moussaoui responsible for the 9/11 attacks by
concealing the al-Qaida plot from FBI agents after he was arrested in August
2001 on immigration violations.
"It only takes one juror to reject imposition of the death penalty, and we
respect that," McNulty said.
The trial put jurors on an emotional roller coaster and gave the 37-year-old
Frenchman a platform to needle Americans and revel in the pain of the victims
and their families.
When the verdict was announced, Moussaoui showed no visible reaction and sat
slouched in his chair, refusing to stand with his defense team. He had declined
to cooperate with his court-appointed lawyers throughout the trial.
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