Posted on 05/03/2006 1:44:47 PM PDT by MikeA
A federal jury decided Wednesday al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui deserves life in prison for his role in the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history, on Sept. 11, 2001.
On the seventh day of deliberation, the jury of nine men and three women informed Judge Leonie Brinkema that it had reached a decision. The verdict was announced at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
Moussaoui, a 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent, is the only person charged in this country in connection with the suicide jetliner hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.
The verdict came after four years of legal maneuvering and a six-week trial that put jurors on an emotional roller coaster.
The panel of northern Virginia residents was shown gruesome never- before-released images of the carnage that day, heard the first public playing of the cockpit recorder from United Flight 93 whose passengers tried to retake the jet over Pennsylvania, and watched and listened as dozens of victims and relatives described the horrors and losses they had endured.
The nine men and three women deliberated about 40 hours. They had found Moussaoui eligible for execution after more than 16 hours of deliberations in late March and early April.
Although he was in jail on immigration violations on Sept. 11, the jury ruled that lies he told federal agents the month before the attacks kept the government from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.
he'll get a prayer rug, halal meals, a koran etc. etc..anyone wanna bet?
He wanted to die. To become a martyr. The worse possible punishment for him is to be forgotten.
If you'd told me that the jury would award life in prison over the death penalty yesterday, I would have said you were nuts. Hmmmmm.... Maybe Moussaoui's claim that Bush is going to pardon him on the day he leaves office is looking more credible. The two pronostications are equally credible, and one of them has already come true.
This just makes me SICK!
If this guy doesn't deserve Death, no one does!
Todd Beamer's Dad (David) is on the phone on Fox - what a class guy. Personally would have liked to see a different verdict - appreciates the work the jury did.
I think living in prison will be far worse than the death penalty would be. He wanted to be given the death penalty, he wanted to be a "martyr" for his cause. If he lasts a week in federal prison, that will be lucky for him. Maybe that is what the jury is thinking???? Or maybe I'm giving them too much credit.
Give him a pig for a roomie...
Not a chance, he will be segregated from the general population because of who he is. He should be turned loose during dinner in the middle of the chow hall. This clown will live a pampered life of air conditioning, 3 meals, and cable tv, while he should be looking over his shoulder, sleeping with one eye open, and asking Osama to send him a lifetime supply of soap on a rope!
Compare this trial to the one he would have received for a similiar crime in Saudi Arabia!
how sweet.... maybe he can convert a few thugs during his time....you know... create a minstry of terror.....
He wanted martyrdom and was denied. He will probably not survive life inside the prison population and my guess is that he will spend the rest of his life in solitary. Let him rot.
In a way, I think denying him the martyrdom he was seeking is a fitting punishment. Still, it might be looked on by our enemies as a sign of weakness.
John Kerry and the rest of the Dems should be happy. Finally, we're dealing with terrorism in a more "sensitive" way.
"No 72 virgins for you!"
I may be wrong, but from what I understand it is cheaper to give them life than execute them with all the expenses involved in the appeal process.
Of course there is such a thing as "prison justice."
so if he is discovered hanging in his cell one day; don't be surprised...
Perhaps he'll meet the same end as Jeffrey Dahmer, with some other prisoner beating him to death....
he clapped and shouted "America! You lost!" upon leaving the courtroom
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