Moussaoui Death Penalty Case May Be Tossed

An artist's rendering prosecutor David Novak, right, and defense attourney Edward MacMahon, center, plead their cases to the U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema during the fifth day of Zacarius Moussaoui's, left, sentencing trial at U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. during Monday, March 9, 2006. The angry federal judge unexpectedly recessed the death penalty trial of confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to consider whether government violations of her rules against coaching witnesses should remove the death penalty as an option. The stunning development came at the opening of the fifth day of the trial as the government had informed the judge and the defense over the weekend that a lawyer for the Federal Aviation Administration had coached four government FAA witnesses in violation of the rule set by Judge Brinkema that no witness should hear trial testimony in advance. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)

This is what happens when you get overzealous prosecutors trying to make an example of a terrorist case. From Yahoo News:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The federal judge in the Zacarias Moussaoui case is considering ending the death-penalty prosecution of the al-Qaida conspirator after learning that a federal lawyer apparently coached witnesses on upcoming testimony.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said Monday it was "very difficult for this case to go forward" after prosecutors revealed that a lawyer for the Transportation Security Administration had violated her order barring witnesses from any exposure to trial testimony.

Brinkema sent the jury home until Wednesday while she considers her options.

If she bars the government from pursuing the death penalty, the trial would be over and Moussaoui would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of release. The government likely would appeal that ruling.

I look at this story, and I marvel at how the government will use illegal or impropriety means to achieve extremist goals. Here in the Moussaoui case, we have government lawyers coaching witnesses in what to say on the stand during the sentencing phase--it is not enough that Moussaoui is guilty for conspiring with al Qaida to hijack aircraft during the September 11th attacks and will sit in prison for the rest of his life as punishment for his crimes. No, he has to be put to death. And in order to get this death penalty, let's have the government lawyers coach the witnesses so they're all reading from the same page. Did it ever occur to the government lawyers, that such a behavior could result in the judge's throwing out the death penalty sentence for Moussaoui?

I guess not.