Why should we hang the man, let him hang himself. We think that's the subtext of Judge Brinkema's ruling yesterday that she would not stop Zacarias Moussaoui from testifying before Congress or a federal grand jury. The feds are apparently inclined to take him up on his offer.

And while the Judge ordered two of his counsel to go with him, Moussaoui won't speak with either of them.

Moussaoui claims he has evidence that the FBI had him and the hijackers under surveillance before September 11 and before his arrest. He says that the government wanted the terrorist attacks on September 11 to go forward so the United States could later destroy Afghanistan. And that therefore the Government would not have arrested him if they thought he had anything to do with the conspiracy.

Moussaoui said in letters that he doesn't think he will be allowed to bring his evidence out in his trial so he wants to bring it to the American public. He also wants to to speak with the media.

Meanwhile, his court appointed lawyer filed a motion with the Court describing the evidence against him: 400 audiotapes, 170 CD-ROMs, two videotapes and 755 pages of documents that all were classified. Moussoui is not allowed access to the classified information because he won't use a lawyer. An additional 1,217 audiotapes, 296 videotapes and 202 computer hard drives are useless to Moussaoui because he does not have the equipment to view or hear them.

You can peruse or read the significant filings in the Moussaoui case here.

"American Taliban" John Lindh didn't win a venue change from Virginia. TalkLeft yesterday mentioned the venue transfer in the OKC bombing trials...interesting that the Judge in rejecting the comparison first said that Oklahoma was not a national tragedy like Sept. 11...then quickly corrected himself to say of course it was. Probably saved himself a lot of outrage by citizens of Oklahoma. But why not agree with the need for a venue change? Of course everyone in the country knows about Sept. 11...everyone knew about Oklahoma in 1995. The test isn't whether jurors knew about it, but whether they can be fair and not have opinions as to Walker's guilt. Surely the jury pool so close to the Pentagon is going to be more personally and emotionally involved than a jury in Marin County or Alaska. The presumption of innocence means he's entitled to have the trial start with a clean slate in the mind of the jurors.

Moussaoui lost his bid today to have his trial moved to Denver. The Judge ruled he hadn't proved that jurors elsewhere would be more impartial than Virginia jurors. What about the fact that jurors in Virginia are likely to have a more personal interest in the case and a greater stake in the outcome by virtue of the crime occurring in their community?

As Judge Matsch stated in moving the Oklahoma bombing trials from Oklahoma to Denver, our trust in the jurors' ability to put aside prejudicial pre-trial publicity "diminishes when the prior exposure is such that it evokes strong emotional responses or such an identification with those directly affected by the conduct at issue that the jurors feel a personal stake in the outcome. That is also true when there is such identification with a community point of view that jurors feel a sense of obligation to reach a result which will find general acceptance in the relevant audience...."

"Because the penalty of death is by its very nature different from all other punishments in that it is final and irrevocable, the issue of prejudice...must include consideration of whether there is a showing of a predilection toward that penalty. "

Was Moussaoui provided with experts to advise the court on these issues at a hearing? Were studies done comparing the attitudes of Virginia juries with those of other cities? We haven't read about it.

Here is what we know so far.

Moussaoui will be tried in the same community where the crime occurred and which is home to the victims and their families. Many members of the prospective jury pool are employees of the federal Government, the target of the attacks. (Does this make them victims too?)

Moussaoui can't have the advice of his counsel of choice because that lawyer is not licensed in Virginia and doesn't want to enter his appearance for the whole case. (What difference does it make if the lawyer is not intending on appearing in Court but only on providing advice to enable Moussaoui to better represent himself?) He won't be provided with the names and addresses of witnesses who will testify against him because it might be dangerous to the witnesses. He can't have access to all the documents because many are classified. He is representing himself even though he doesn't know the difference between a plea of nolo contendre and guilty (they are in effect the same). He won't even speak with his court-appointed stand-by counsel.

A truly unfortunate thing is that Moussaoui, according to many legal experts, actually may have a valid legal defense to the charges. According to Jonathan Turley on NPR on June 13, 2002, the Government's claims are mostly circumstantial and many of its legal theories are "highly questionable." Turley thinks that with a good lawyer, Moussaoui might have a chance, even in Virginia.

So how does Moussaoui fairly and adequately present his defense in Alexandria, Virginia without a lawyer arguing on his behalf? And how will his trial make our criminal justice system appear to the rest of the world?

We think the answers are painfully obvious. Surely there must be a better way.

The prosecutors in the Moussaoui trial insist in a court filing today that Pentagon jurors can be fair. Moussaoui Prosecutors Oppose Move to Denver. Of course they object. Virginia is one of the most conservative jurisdictions in the country. We've complained before that the Pentagon is only 9 miles from the courthouse. And that the jury pool will be overpopulated with Government personnel. But also consider that Moussaoui is a person of color and the jury pool in Virginia will be predominantly white. Why create reversible error before the trial? Give the man a change of venue. Let's go for justice, not revenge. We recommend Alaska.