  
| 
| |||||||||||||||||
Jury picked to decide Moussaoui's fateTrial expected to take months
 Admitted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui could be sentenced to death. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- A jury was seated Monday to hear the sentencing phase of the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States with crimes related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Attorneys chose seven women and 10 men to constitute the jury of 12 members and five alternates. An 18th juror, a woman who appeared to be distraught, was struck, but it was not clear why. Only one of the 17, a woman, appeared to be black; the rest are white. The 12 jurors who will actually decide the case won't be determined until the end of the trial, court clerk Ed Adams said. Jurors will not be asked to determine Moussaoui's guilt. That was established last April, when Moussaoui pleaded guilty to all six terrorism conspiracy charges against him. For his punishment, jurors will have two choices: Life in prison without the possibility of parole or death, which the government is seeking. Prosecutors will argue that Moussaoui should be executed because he lied to FBI agents about his knowledge of what other al Qaeda operatives were doing. For the jury to return a death sentence, prosecutors must prove that Moussaoui's lying contributed to the murder of nearly 3,000 people in the September 11, 2001, attacks. (Watch what prosecutors must do to win a death sentence -- 2:18) Moussaoui, 37, sat quietly during the 90-minute process of seating the jury. Through his attorney, he handed U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema a handwritten note asking her to reconsider allowing him to represent himself. Brinkema denied the request. "That issue is over and done with," she said. Opening arguments begin at 2 p.m. and the government's first witness is expected to take the witness stand by the end of the day. Moussaoui faces the jury four and a half years after he was detained in federal custody. "I hope that he gets a fair trial. I hope that the truth will come out," his mother, Aicha el Wafi, told CNN in an interview near the courthouse Sunday. "The only thing that I do hope is that my son will not be used as a scapegoat." If the jury finds that people died on September 11 as a result of Moussaoui's lies, the penalty trial will continue. Prosecutors then will present reasons justifying a death sentence, known as "aggravating factors." Those factors include whether Moussaoui participated in the deadly conspiracy knowing that he created a "grave risk of death;" that he demonstrated a "reckless disregard for human life"; and he acted in a "heinous, cruel and depraved manner" after "substantial planning and premeditation." The defense will present opposing arguments and evidence, what are known as "mitigating" factors, to offer a more sympathetic portrayal of the defendant. Defense expert witnesses may say he is mentally ill. Moussaoui, arrested in August 2001 after arousing suspicion at a Minnesota flight school, pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy 11 months ago but has denied having a direct role in the 9/11 plot. On that day, 19 men hijacked and crashed jetliners into the Pentagon in northern Virginia, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, and in a field in rural western Pennsylvania. Moussaoui, a French citizen born to Moroccan parents, insisted he was meant for a different airliner mission. The trial is expected to last two months. As part of a large amount of evidence to be considered, Moussaoui's defense attorneys are expected to present information about how law enforcement agencies should have known before Moussaoui's arrest that al Qaeda was determined to strike in the United States. "Substantial evidence will be presented at trial that the United States government knew more about al Qaeda's plans to attack the United States than did Mr. Moussaoui," the defense said in a court filing. Earlier in the case, Solicitor-General Paul Clement explained the government's theory of Moussaoui's responsibility for 9/11: "At the time the defendant was stopped and questioned, had he told the truth, there would have been an opportunity for the deaths not to occur." Authorities could have increased security and prevented the attacks, Clement said at a pretrial hearing, even if Moussaoui didn't know operational details of the plot. One defense exhibit likely will be the failed search in August 2001 for two al Qaeda agents. They turned out to be two of the hijackers aboard the plane that struck the Pentagon in Virginia. Prosecutors are expected to try to show how Moussaoui followed many of the same preparations as the 9/11 hijackers. Key evidence is expected to contain summaries of the interrogations of key al Qaeda detainees, such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. The defense is expected to argue that evidence will help it prove Moussaoui should not be linked to 9/11 and therefore should not be put to death. The jury will hear evidence about the attacks from more than 40 families of 9/11 victims. The defense also has concerns about its client's behavior. Moussaoui, who has pledged to testify, had several outbursts at the beginning of jury selection in February, proclaiming, "I'm al Qaeda" and calling his attorneys insulting names. CNN's Phil Hirschkorn and Jeanne Meserve contributed to this report. 
|
| |||||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
