Govt's Case on Moussaoi Remains Weak
Despite the Court's ruling allowing the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui to proceed, minus the witnesses tainted by Carla J. Martin, the prosecutor still has an uphill battle in trying to prove that Zacarias contributed to or caused the death of any of the 9/11 victims. The Washington Post has a great editorial, Another Blown Case, on this and other federal terrorism trials to date. Some snippets:
This case nevertheless joins a line of big terrorism prosecutions marred by government misconduct, overzealousness, hyping of charges or just plain ineffectiveness.
- A conviction in Detroit had to be set aside because of prosecutorial misconduct. The government brought spectacular charges against accused Islamic Jihad activist Sami al-Arian, only to see a jury reject many of them -- and convict on none -- after a lengthy trial.
- Then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft announced the arrest of Jose Padilla with great fanfare as the foiling of a plot to detonate a radiological "dirty" bomb; after holding him for years as an enemy combatant, the government indicted him for far lesser matters.
- Mohamed Qahtani, the Guantanamo Bay inmate the government has labeled the 20th hijacker -- when it wasn't busy making the same claim about Mr. Moussaoui -- was subjected to such abusive interrogation that he probably cannot face trial at all.
Conclusion:
Much of this is the Bush administration's fault. The administration failed to work with Congress to create viable legal structures to handle these cases, proceeding in whatever way seemed most convenient in any given situation. The results are abysmal. And, ironically, they undermine the case for the more secretive military trial procedures the government is trying to create. If authorities fail so often to play by the rules in the relatively open federal court system, it's hard to believe their behavior will be better when the spotlight is turned off.
I suspect the Judge will end the trial by ruling against the Government when the Defense makes a motion for acquittal at the conclusion of the Government's case. The Government will not have shown that but for Moussaoui's lies to the FBI, even one person would not have died. His connection to 9/11 is too peripheral and it's also doubtful that even with his information, the attacks would have been prevented. Moussaoui just wasn't in the fold. A bumbling holy warrior who intended to do damage at some point, yes. But one of those responsible for the 9/11 deaths, no.
My prediction: The Government will lose the death case, Moussaoui will get life in prison and be designated to Supermax in in Florence -- along with all the other terrorists.
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