Hundreds Of Questions Await 9/11 Jury Pool
Hundreds of Questions Await 9/11 Jury Pool
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationwo...tion-headlines
By MATTHEW BARAKAT
November 30, 2005, 5:57 PM EST
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Lawyers representing Zacarias Moussaoui want to ask potential jurors more than 300 questions -- including their opinions of high-profile FBI investigations and their response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 -- as part of the selection process for his trial.
The defense's proposed jury questionnaire, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, is far more extensive than one proposed earlier this week by prosecutors.
Moussaoui, the only person charged in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, has already pleaded guilty to six conspiracy charges. A jury must still decide whether he should be executed during the penalty phase of his trial, scheduled to begin in February.
Moussaoui has admitted he is an al-Qaida terrorist, but said he had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks and instead planned to participate in a different attack.
Prosecutors contend that Moussaoui contributed to the Sept. 11 attacks by lying to investigators about his terrorist ties when he was arrested in the weeks before the attacks.
The 306-item defense questionnaire asks jurors their opinion about the performance of the FBI in several criminal investigations, including the standoffs in Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho; the 1996 Olympic bombing, in which security guard Richard Jewell was wrongly implicated; and the still-unsolved anthrax deaths in 2001. In all those cases, the FBI was criticized for its handling of the investigation.
Defense attorneys have argued that numerous investigations of the Sept. 11 attacks show that the FBI knew more than Moussaoui about the pending attack, but was still unable to prevent it.
The questionnaire also asks jurors about their reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks -- whether they evacuated their office buildings that day, whether they visited the still-smoldering Pentagon in the days after the attack and whether they had any friends or family who participated in rescue efforts.
Defense lawyers and Moussaoui himself have expressed concerns about the ability to get a fair trial in Alexandria, just a few miles from the Pentagon.
The questionnaire asks jurors their views about Islam, as does prosecutors' proposed questionnaire.
The jury questionnaire also asks numerous personal questions, like jurors' favorite TV shows and what bumper stickers they have on their car. It even asks whether filling out the 69-page questionnaire itself has influenced their opinion of the case.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema will ultimately decide what questions will be submitted to the jury pool. More than 500 people from northern Virginia will be called in as potential jurors, with jury selection expected to continue for a month before opening statements in March.
