Via the NYT (Moussaoui Given Life Term by Jury Over Link to 9/11) we get some glimpse into the reasoning of the jury as they weighed life and death for Zacarias Moussaoui.

The story states:

In the complicated 42-page verdict given to Judge Brinkema, the jurors listed how many agreed with each of the more than two dozen mitigating factors put forward by the defense. The form said two mitigating factors drew the greatest agreement, with nine jurors finding that they were valid issues to be weighed in the decision.

The first was that Mr. Moussaoui suffered an “unstable early childhood and dysfunctional family” life, and a hostile relationship with his mother that led to his being placed in French orphanages.

The second factor was that his father “had a violent temper and physically and emotionally abused his family.”

Three jurors found that another valid mitigating factor to be weighed against the death and destruction of the Sept. 11 attacks was that Mr. Moussaoui had been subjected to racism in France as a Muslim youth.

I must confess: I see nothing in any of those issues that should have any bearing on the punishment the man deserves. Indeed, that’s pretty thin gruel from the same jury that found him guilty of conspiring ro participate in the 911 attacks.

The following actually makes some sense, however:

Three jurors added their own mitigating factor, writing on the jury form that they believed that Mr. Moussaoui had limited knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot. That meant that they had rejected an important argument of the prosecutors, that Mr. Moussaoui should be held responsible for Sept. 11, even though he was in jail at the time.

One of the things that has troubled me to some degree about this case is that I often got the feeling that because Moussaoui was all we had in terms of someone to prosecute for 911, then perhaps more had been vested in him specifically than may have been warranted by the evidence.

Still, if they found him guilty of the charges, that means they accepted the notion that he knew. If he knew, then it would seem to me that his childhood is irrelevant and issues of doubt about his exact guilt should have already been settled.

Of course, I have not seen all the evidence, nor do I understand or know the relevant laws that apply in this case.

If the following is true, however (and I believe it is), then he deserved death:

Prosecutors repeatedly said that if Mr. Moussaoui had told what he knew to investigators who had arrested him three weeks earlier in Minnesota on immigration charges, the government would have moved swiftly to foil the plot.

I can see how jurors would be conflicted on the point, insofar as it is very difficult to know exactly what Moussaoui knew when he was jailed prior to 911–but that was an issue of controversy for the verdict, not the sentence.

Peggy Noonan puts it as follows:

This is what Moussaoui did: He was in jail on a visa violation in August 2024. He knew of the upcoming attacks. In fact, he had taken flight lessons to take part in them. He told no one what was coming. He lied to the FBI so the attacks could go forward. He pled guilty last year to conspiring with al Qaeda; at his trial he bragged to the court that he had intended to be on the fifth aircraft, which was supposed to destroy the White House.

He knew the trigger was about to be pulled. He knew innocent people had been targeted, and were about to meet gruesome, unjust deaths.

He could have stopped it. He did nothing. And so 2,700 people died.

Ultimately, I suppose that some members of the jury believe he is guilty, they’re just not sure how much, and that doubt about exactly how much he is guilty led them to eschew the death penalty in this case.

Regardless of everything else, and despite Moussaoui’s proclamation of victory in the courtroom yesterday, he does have quite a long time to languish in the American penal system, and that won’t be any fun for him whatsoever.

2 Comments

1. Moussaoui Escapes Death Penalty And Gets Life (UPDATED)

   911 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui’s defense team saved the day despite the best efforts of their client:

   Trackback by The Moderate Voice — Thursday, May 4, 2024 @ 8:36 am

2. “Ultimately, I suppose that some members of the jury believe he is guilty”

   Just because the jury sought not to have the state kill Moussaoui does not mean that there was any doubt as to his guilt! Remember, as you point out, he is not being let free, for crying out loud!

   It is important to point out that there are many people–especially in a country with a strong Christian population, like the US–who rightly think that the death penalty is inherently barbaric and at odds with Western values.

   By succumbing to barbarism the US would sink itself to Moussaoui’s morally-bankrupt level. This sentencing is incredibly just and indicative of a committment to the principles of civilized justice that form the basis of our legal and cultural system.

   Comment by Ratoe — Thursday, May 4, 2024 @ 11:21 am

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