Psycho4Bud
04-03-2006, 09:57 PM
Jurors in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui have found him eligible for the death penalty.
The verdict on Moussaoui, a French citizen, was announced on Monday at 4pm EDT (2000GMT).
The court said jurors had sent a note to Leonie Brinkema, US district judge, indicating they had reached a verdict.
This first phase of the trial determines Moussaoui's eligibility for the death penalty.
The trial will now move into a second phase to determine whether he deserves the death penalty. Victims of September 11, 2001, attacks and their families will testify in this second phase.
The jury began weighing Moussaoui's fate on Wednesday.
During its deliberations, the jury has asked only one question, seeking a definition of "weapon of mass destruction." One of the three convictions for which Moussaoui could be executed is conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The jurors were told that a plane used as a missile - the tactic employed on September 11 - qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction.
Guilty plea
Moussaoui pleaded guilty last April to conspiring with al-Qaeda to hijack aircraft and other crimes.
At the time, he denied being part of the 9/11 plot, saying he was being trained for a separate attack, but he changed his story when he took the stand and claimed he was to have flown a hijacked airliner into the White House that day.
The jury must find that Moussaoui was responsible for at least one death on September 11, for him to be eligible for execution.
Moussaoui was in jail at the time of the attacks, but prosecutors argue federal agents would have been able to thwart or at least minimise the attacks if he had revealed his al-Qaeda membership and his terrorist plans when he was arrested and interrogated by federal agents.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6CD30590-BBA5-4E9D-8F66-A302ACFB0E9D.htm
A SHOCKING turn of events!:thumbsup:
The verdict on Moussaoui, a French citizen, was announced on Monday at 4pm EDT (2000GMT).
The court said jurors had sent a note to Leonie Brinkema, US district judge, indicating they had reached a verdict.
This first phase of the trial determines Moussaoui's eligibility for the death penalty.
The trial will now move into a second phase to determine whether he deserves the death penalty. Victims of September 11, 2001, attacks and their families will testify in this second phase.
The jury began weighing Moussaoui's fate on Wednesday.
During its deliberations, the jury has asked only one question, seeking a definition of "weapon of mass destruction." One of the three convictions for which Moussaoui could be executed is conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The jurors were told that a plane used as a missile - the tactic employed on September 11 - qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction.
Guilty plea
Moussaoui pleaded guilty last April to conspiring with al-Qaeda to hijack aircraft and other crimes.
At the time, he denied being part of the 9/11 plot, saying he was being trained for a separate attack, but he changed his story when he took the stand and claimed he was to have flown a hijacked airliner into the White House that day.
The jury must find that Moussaoui was responsible for at least one death on September 11, for him to be eligible for execution.
Moussaoui was in jail at the time of the attacks, but prosecutors argue federal agents would have been able to thwart or at least minimise the attacks if he had revealed his al-Qaeda membership and his terrorist plans when he was arrested and interrogated by federal agents.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6CD30590-BBA5-4E9D-8F66-A302ACFB0E9D.htm
A SHOCKING turn of events!:thumbsup: