I’m not usually one to take much satisfaction in the suffering of others, even through legally imposed prison sentences derived from fair trials. None the less, I think I’ll be glad to offer up a touch of a chuckle towards Zacarias Moussaoui. As it turns out, super-max. detention in lovely Florence, Colorado is turning out to be slightly les lovely than our dear friend Mr. Moussaoui anticipated it might be. Accordingly, he’d like out of guilty plea and to have a new trial, thank you.
Unfortunately for him:
"he had lost his right to appeal his conviction when he pled guilty in April 2005. “You waived that right,” she said.
On Monday, Brinkema said his request to set aside his guilty plea and go back to trial on the facts of the case was “too late” under federal rules and must be rejected. "
On the whole the evidence against Moussaoui was satisfactory to me and I think we can all agree that September 11th was a pretty evil act. Combined with his complete lack of remorse and using his trial phases as a chance to exclaim his joy at the pain inflicted upon the families of victims that day, what can I say beyond, “heh, sucks to be you!”
Has he even started his sentence yet? I suppose he must have. We were premature to hope we’d heard the last of him the other day, but none of this is going to go anywhere.
I’m fairly certain that if a sentence is adjudged on a particular day and there is no continuance of bail, then the prisoner begins serving the sentence on the same day as it was adjudged.
Makes sense, and I don’t know where else they’d have put him anyway. The guy seems genuinely cracked, and it must be a major hassle to try and represent him. He’s not getting out whatever happens- it’s just a question of how much of a nuisance he’ll try to make himself while he’s locked up.
Moussaoui’s quote should make Americans feel very proud:
So, this prick lied because he wanted to die (incidentally, in a manner not dissimilar to death row convicts with severe psychoses such as ‘Monster’ Aileen Wuournos, who refused to contest her obvious mistrial in which her incompetent attorney made no mention of her claim that she was acting in self defence despite her saying so over 60 times on the police interview tape, because she wanted to die, too).
Not only is life imprisonment clearly less preferred to death for some convicts, it’s also reversible. But best of all, it teaches a lesson in civilisation to barbarous savages: We can set aside our bloodlust and vengeance, because they make us no better than you.
Where’s a cleric when you need one? I need clarification!
If one WANTS to become a martyr, but is denied martydom by wretched rational spawns of Satan, upon one’s death at the ripe old age of 85, is one still entitled to a hoarde of virgins? And, more importantly, will Viagra be provided?
Most scholars translate the the Arabic (plural) word Abkarun as virgins, however, for those who are martyred by murdering innocents, I believe the term is “AbDarkaun”, which translates loosely as “10,000 flaming chainsaws inserted in your anus for externity.”
The problem with this statement is that it assumes that the DP is barbaric. It’s not. I know that for myself personally, locking me in a cell 23 hours a day for the rest of my life would be more barbaric by an order of magnitude compared to a quick painless death. I suspect Mr. Moussaoui is feeling the same right about now.
Actually, so do a lot of US-based human rights bodies and legal persons. Having recently read up on Supermax, IMHO it is very unlikely that they will continue in their present degree of harshness. The push against them is quite lively, broad based and has had several big wins.
Wow, it is not very often a federal court issues a formal Writ of Shut The F*ck Up.
On the other hand, it would seem the lad is telling the truth. The only proof that he was supposed fly an airplane into the WH is his own statements. In the same way, there is no real proof* that he even knew the 9-11 people.
That means we seem to have sentenced a man to six life sentences who should have gotten only one or two.
Oh well.
*Aside from his own nutty-as-a-fruitcake confession, I mean.
His lies were painfully obvious. C’mon - he and Richard Reid were to fly a plane into the White House? Was Jose Padilla going to be the lookout?
He was a crappy terrorist, and being put to death was the only path to glory for him. Moussaoui was obviously AQ’s version of Zero from the Beetle Bailey comic strip. Actually, I think that may be an insult to Zero.
Although I’m an advocate of the death penalty, I’m glad Moussaoui got life imprisonment. Instead of martyrdom, he can look forward to decade after decade of nothing. Not that I’m a vengeful person.
Gee if he feels like this after 5 days, I wonder how he’ll feel after 5 decades?
