|
| ||||||||||||||||||
Al Qaeda conspirator barred from courtVolatile Moussaoui will watch jury selection from jail cellFrom Kelli Arena and Kevin Bohn ![]() "I am going to lecture," al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- After berating the judge and his attorneys in another courtroom outburst, al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was barred from court while lawyers pick the jury that will decide whether he lives or dies. At a pretrial hearing Tuesday, Judge Leonie Brinkema asked Moussaoui whether he would remain quiet for the rest of jury selection. He quickly demonstrated that he would continue to speak out. "Are you going to sit quiet?" Brinkema asked. "I am going to lecture," Moussaoui said, standing at a courtroom lectern. "You try to organize my death for four years," the defendant said. He said his attorneys "are organizing my sending to the gas chamber or lethal injection." "These people are not my lawyer," he said. Moussaoui called defense attorney Ed MacMahon, a Southerner, a "KKK lawyer" and Alan Yamamoto, a defense lawyer of Japanese descent, "a geisha." He disavowed his French citizenship. "I'm a sworn enemy of France, Moussaoui said, wearing a Muslim skull cap in court for the first time. "I tell you I am a Muslim, and I have nothing to do with a nation of homosexual crusaders. And I am not a frog." Judge: 'Enemy of yourself'He focused his rant on the judge and his attorneys. "These people are American. I am al Qaeda. I am a sworn enemy of you," Moussaoui proclaimed. "You are the biggest enemy of yourself," Brinkema told him. The judge ordered the defendant removed from court, saying he will watch the rest of jury selection on a closed-circuit feed to a jail cell inside the courthouse. Moussaoui shouted, "God curse you and America!" As he was led away, he continued to spew curses. Moussaoui, 37, goes on trial next month before a jury that will decide whether he should be executed or sentenced to life in prison for participating in al Qaeda's conspiracy to hijack airplanes and crash them into landmark American buildings. Moussaoui pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy last year without admitting doing anything in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Prosecutors maintain his lies to FBI agents after his August 2001 arrest covered up the plot and contributed to nearly 3,000 deaths. Frequent courtroom outburstsMoussaoui repeatedly has disrupted court proceedings during the four years his case has been working its way through federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Last week, as jury selection began, he frequently spoke out in court, saying he wanted his court-appointed lawyers removed from the case, that he wanted to testify and that he was a member of al Qaeda. Moussaoui contends he was tapped to hijack a plane in a second wave of terrorist attacks after September 11, and he intended to fly one into the White House. He failed to earn a pilot's license after three months at an Oklahoma flight school in 2001 and later aroused suspicions at a Minnesota school when he showed up for Boeing 747 flight simulator training, leading to his arrest. Individual interviews with prospective jurors begin Wednesday in open court. A pool of more than 400 potential jurors last week filled out lengthy questionnaires probing their backgrounds and views. A jury of 12 and six alternates will be seated. Opening statements are set for March 6. CNN's Phil Hirschkorn in New York contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press 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. |
|