Zacarias Moussaoui claimes victory over America

Zacarias Moussaoui claimed victory over America after a jury rejected the government's effort to put the Sept. 11 conspirator to death and instead decided to lock him away in prison for the rest of his life.

Photo: Zacarias Moussaoui claimes victory over America

Moussaoui, who spent much of the two-month trial cursing America, blessing al-Qaida and mocking the suffering of 9/11 victims, offered one more taunt after the jury reached its verdict: "America, you lost. ... I won," he said, clapping his hands as he was escorted from the courtroom.

Moussaoui will get one last chance to speak publicly Thursday when he will formally be sentenced to life in prison. Barring an unforeseen circumstance, he will then be sent to a federal supermax prison in Colorado for the rest of his life under special conditions that will prevent him from having any contact with the outside world.

After seven days of deliberation, the nine men and three women rebuffed the government's appeal for death for the only person charged in this country in the suicide hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

It is not known how many jurors wanted Moussaoui sentenced to life and how many wanted a death sentence. Under federal law, a defendant automatically receives life in prison when a jury is split. The 42-page verdict form gives no indication on how, or if, the jury split.

Interestingly, the jury rejected two key defense arguments, that Moussaoui suffers a mental illness and that executing him would make him a martyr. No jurors indicated on the verdict form that they gave any weight to those arguments.

Nine jurors found that Moussaoui suffered a difficult childhood in a dysfunctional family where he spent many of his early years in and out of orphanages. Three found that Moussaoui only played a minor role in 9/11.

Defense lawyer Gerald Zerkin said outside court that "it was obvious that they thought his role in 9/11 was not very great and that played a significant role in their decision."

Prosecutors, who pursued the Moussaoui case for 4 1/2 years, declared themselves satisfied with the jury's verdict.

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, who was chief prosecutor in Alexandria in December 2001 when Moussaoui was first charged, noted that the jury in the trial's first phase found Moussaoui responsible for the 9/11 attacks by concealing the al-Qaida plot from federal agents after Moussaoui was arrested in August 2001 on immigration violations.

"It only takes one juror to reject imposition of the death penalty, and we respect that," McNulty said, reports the AP.

I.L.