Moussaoui: Life in prison or death?

BDx13 - 4-6-2006 at 04:18 PM

Giuliani Tells Moussaoui Jury About 9/11
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer 36 minutes ago

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani described the opening horrors of Sept. 11, 2001, to Zacarias Moussaoui's death penalty trial Thursday, saying he was unwilling to believe people were jumping to their deaths from the World Trade Center until he saw it with his own eyes.

He said the image of two people jumping together, appearing to hold hands, sticks with him every day. Moussaoui affected a look of boredom when the prosecution played video of victims falling to their deaths.

Jurors watched intently; some family members in the courtroom hung their heads with reddened eyes during the testimony.

The jury was riveted when the prosecution summoned the first of the family members and friends of the victims to testify.

New York City police officer James Smith described the loss of his wife, Moira, who was also on the force. He showed a photo of her helping an injured man out of the stricken south tower; she died after she went back in.

"Moira was a gung-ho police officer, took chances, made a lot of arrests, until Patricia was born," he said, displaying family photos showing their daughter born in 1999. "She went from street narcotics to community policing. She decided that she wanted to be a mother even more than a police officer."

Retired firefighter Anthony Sanseviro described how a colleague died after he was hit by a falling body from one of the towers: "It was like a missile coming in."

Giuliani took the stand after prosecutor Rob Spencer braced jurors for the painful testimony they were going to hear over the next few weeks. His presentation opened the final phase of the drawn-out trial that will determine whether Moussaoui is executed or sent to prison for life.

Giuliani said that when he arrived at the scene, his deputy told him how bad the situation was and that people were jumping from the high floors of the towers. "I concluded or hoped he was wrong," he said.

But then he saw people falling and "I froze. I realized in that couple of seconds, it switched my thinking and emotions. I said, 'We're in uncharted territory.'"

Extra marshals were on hand when Giuliani walked past Moussaoui and took the stand.

Spencer argued that the voices of the victims of the attacks and their anguished families should be all the jury needs to hear to decide whether Moussaoui, an acknowledged al-Qaida terrorist, should die for his crimes.

Spencer described one call from a woman on the 83rd floor of the second tower to fall. "The floor is completely engulfed," she said. "We're on the floor and we can't breathe.... I don't see any more air...I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Moussaoui, 37, is the only person charged in this country in the Sept. 11 attacks. On Monday, the jury concluded that Moussaoui was directly responsible for at least one death on that day and is therefore eligible for execution.

His trial is to hear the cockpit voice recordings from United Flight 93, which crashed into a western Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, after passengers fought back against the hijackers. The tape has never been heard publicly.

Prosecutors also planned to summon family members to testify and they were poised to play phone calls from people trapped in the World Trade Center and speaking their last words to 911 operators.

"You cannot understand the magnitude of that day unless you hear it from the victims themselves," Spencer said. Moussaoui smiled several times when the prosecution mentioned his enthusiasm for the attacks.

Defense lawyer Gerald Zerkin acknowledged that evidence on the impact on the victims will be overwhelming. But he urged jurors to "somehow maintain your equilibrium .... You must nevertheless open yourselves to the possibility of a sentence other than death."

Zerkin described how Moussaoui grew up with little religious training and fell under the influence of radical Muslims when he traveled to London in hopes of becoming a businessman.

Zerkin alluded to a history of schizophrenia in Moussaoui's family and said several doctors hired by the defense believe he is mentally ill.

Spencer countered: "It was his choice to become a terrorist and it was a choice he was proud of."

Giuliani described "a minor earthquake" when the first tower fell. He had just gotten to a nearby building that briefly served as a command center and was told the White House was on the line. He spoke to a deputy political director who confirmed to Giuliani that the Pentagon had been hit. The mayor asked to speak to President Bush, who was at a school in Florida, and was told instead that Vice President Dick Cheney would be getting back to him.

Just as he was about to be connected to Cheney, the lines went dead and the building shook, he said. Giuliani looked outside and someone told him, "The tower went down."

He said it was "like the storm scene in 'The Wizard of Oz.' ... Like a white cloud, with things flowing through the street."

Giuliani generally remained composed through more than two hours of testimony but his voice broke several times as he described the death of his secretary's husband, Terence S. Hatton. "It's unfortunate and tragic and it's a story multiplied by thousands," he said.

In a very brief cross-examination, Giuliani said the city of New York has bounced back better than ever.

Moussaoui was in a Minnesota jail on 9/11. Nevertheless, the jury concluded that Moussaoui could have thwarted or at least minimized the attacks if he had confessed his al-Qaida membership and his plan to hijack aircraft when federal agents arrested him in August 2001 after his efforts to obtain flight training aroused suspicion.

defstarsteve - 4-6-2006 at 04:29 PM

pawn, a knowledgable pawn who did have part in the plan but pawn all the same

Voodoobillyman - 4-6-2006 at 04:30 PM

He wants to die as a martyr, if he is sentenced to death he will in fact be martyred and supposedly go to heaven where all these virgins will fuck his brains out and everything is hunky dory. Keep his ass in prison for the rest of his life and let the Aryan nation have his ass........literally.

clevohardcore - 4-6-2006 at 04:51 PM

death

XHonusWagnerX - 4-6-2006 at 08:03 PM

Life in prision is probably a worse punishment for him, but I dont want to pay for him for the rest of his life. Kill him!

DaveMoral - 4-6-2006 at 08:04 PM

Meh.

Voodoo... let me point out to you that regardless of whether or not this dude is executed, or given life in prison and is A) let to live and die a natural death or B) is killed by other inmates; he'll still be a martyr to those who consider al-Qa'ida heroic Muslims. Martyrdom does not require that one be slain by the enemy, but if one dies while in captivity for his supposedly heroic "jihadi" actions he's a martyr.

In his mind, and in the minds of those who consider al-Qa'ida and bin Laden heroic, he wins either way.

In sheer terms of culpability and whether or not he was fully knowledgable and capable of giving enough information to stop 9/11... I would say life in prison. Capital punishment smacks to much of revenge, rather than justice.

CR83 - 4-7-2006 at 10:48 AM

Kill him and throw him in the gutter. Useless life to me.

clevohardcore - 4-7-2006 at 10:10 PM

kill the bitch. Everyone will forget his name. Seriously.

forsaken - 4-9-2006 at 06:44 AM

make him eat pork and live with pigs .... shit and piss on him .... and do the same to every other terrorist regardless of race / religion (they're all as bad as each other). beat him to a pulp daily. .... thats just a start.

DaveMoral - 4-9-2006 at 11:53 AM

Then what should people across the pond do to American soldiers?

Newsflash genius, we're not exactly percieved to be the benevolent force we make ourselves out to be to the rest of the world... particularly the third world.

If you even so much as have a mentality of trying to dehumanize people because of their very rational hatred of America and Americans(as we are percieved as 100% behind our government because we don't put a stop to the bullshit done in our names), then fully expect American soldiers and hostages to be treated like animals... less than animals, with the sentiment expressed by forsaken.

forsaken - 4-9-2006 at 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaveMoral
Then what should people across the pond do to American soldiers?

Newsflash genius, we're not exactly percieved to be the benevolent force we make ourselves out to be to the rest of the world... particularly the third world.

If you even so much as have a mentality of trying to dehumanize people because of their very rational hatred of America and Americans(as we are percieved as 100% behind our government because we don't put a stop to the bullshit done in our names), then fully expect American soldiers and hostages to be treated like animals... less than animals, with the sentiment expressed by forsaken.

If they're going to have a "rational hatred" of Americans for seemingly supporting their governments push for war then they're going to have to hate Japan, Australia, New Zealand, some European and Scandinavian countries too becuase they are also involved in the so called 'war on terror'.

What about the way Douglas Wood was treated while he was in captivity in Iraq?? How can you say I should 'expect' westerners to be treated poorly by muslim extremists?? They already are.

Hey it wasn't that long ago i saw footage of 5 civilian engineers being dismembered and towed behind cars while all the muslims cheered and clapped and thought it was the best thing ever .... as far as i'm concerned, being beaten up and shat on is a walk in the park compared to that. I'm being compassionate and letting them off easy with my suggestions.

Maybe my views seem a little fucked up and the last thing i can be bothered doing is starting a message board beef but it's just the way i see things.

DaveMoral - 4-9-2006 at 09:07 PM

Yeah well, regardless, your "walk in the park" doesn't help the image of Americans as barbarians anymore than retard Muslims mutilating so-called "civilian engineers"(aka mercenaries) helps the image in the West of Muslims as barbarians.

Frankly, how can you be surprised when 5 dudes are killed and mutilated after hundreds to thousands were just bombed and incinerated?

The whole thing is a retarded, backwards, hypocritical point of view dude.

forsaken - 4-10-2006 at 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaveMoral
Yeah well, regardless, your "walk in the park" doesn't help the image of Americans as barbarians anymore than retard Muslims mutilating so-called "civilian engineers"(aka mercenaries) helps the image in the West of Muslims as barbarians.

Frankly, how can you be surprised when 5 dudes are killed and mutilated after hundreds to thousands were just bombed and incinerated?

The whole thing is a retarded, backwards, hypocritical point of view dude.

I can see this is gonna go in circles so ill let it die here. We're gonna have to agree to disagree.

upyerbum - 4-10-2006 at 09:22 PM

Would that the big picture were that easy, eh?