Jury Rejects Death Penalty for Moussaoui in Major Defeat for Bush Administration

Zacarias Moussaoui -- the only person charged in this country in connection to the 9/11 attacks - was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Government prosecutors had attempted to convince the 12-person jury that Zacarias Moussaoui deserved to die for his connection to the Sept. 11th attacks even though he was already in jail at the time of the hijackings.

Moussaoui had been arrested in Minnesota in August 2001 after his flight school instructor reported him to the FBI. He was originally detained for immigration violations.

During the trial, federal prosecutors argued that he deserved to be executed because he did not tell investigators at the time of his arrest about the impending attack.

However the government failed to convince the jury even though Moussaoui proudly admitted he was a member of Al Qaeda and that he defended the Sept. 11th attacks.

Three jurors concluded Moussaoui had only limited knowledge of the Sept. 11th plot, and three described his role in the attacks as minor, if he had any role at all.

* Carie Lemack, co-founder of the group Families of Sept. 11th. Her mother -- Judy Larocque - was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11. She speaks outside the courthouse about the jury's verdict.
* Phyllis Rodriguez, her 31-year-old son, Gregory Rodriguez, died in the Sept. 11th attacks. He worked on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center. She recently met with Zacarias Moussaoui's mother, Aicha El Wafi. She joins us on the line from Westchester, New York.
* Aicha El Wafi, Zacarias Moussaoui's mother, interviewed November 2002.
* Coleen Rowley, former FBI Special Agent turned whistleblower. She has accused FBI officials of hampering the investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui and ignoring critical warnings before the 9/11 attacks. She joins us on the line from Minnesota.

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