ALEXANDRIA, Va. — When the Zacarias Moussaoui trial resumes Thursday, gone will be the images of a shadowy world of Muslim extremists, of an FBI and CIA unable to track their movements, of a conspiracy in which Moussaoui's role on Sept. 11 is still unclear.
Now that a jury has found Moussaoui eligible for the death penalty, the trial comes down to a single question: Does he live or die?
Federal prosecutors, wanting Moussaoui dead, intend next to turn Courtroom 700 over to the horror of that day 4 1/2 years ago. They hope to show pictures of all 2,972 who perished, videos of the World Trade Center towers afire and bodies falling, and audiotapes of desperate phone calls to loved ones and emergency crews.
The government has designated up to 45 victims and family members to testify about their collective loss. And they hope to contrast their anguish with Moussaoui's boasts that America remains his enemy.
Separately, defense lawyers believe the jury might spare their client's life if they can show he is insane. They have several mental health professionals standing by, at least one ready to testify that Moussaoui appears to be schizophrenic.
The defense team will also say its 37-year-old client emerged from a tragic childhood only to fall under the spell of terrorist leaders preaching jihad against the West.
Jurors also are likely to hear one more time from Moussaoui. He is insistent on taking the witness stand, despite his devastating testimony last week that all but convicted him.
Moussaoui's behavior is difficult to predict, and his final performance before the jury -- as an unrepentant terrorist or simply deranged -- could well be the tipping point on whether he is sentenced to death by lethal injection or a life in prison without parole.
Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor in New York who has successfully tried terrorists, expects the government to prevail. But he warned that flashing thousands of photos and videos of cascading bodies could inure the jury against the human suffering they are watching.
McCarthy noted that in the first trial against four Los Angeles police officers for assaulting Rodney G. King, the beating video was shown over and over and all the officers were acquitted.
"After a while it's like watching a Road Runner cartoon, where the coyote keeps falling off the cliff and you don't wince anymore," McCarthy said. "If you overdo it, you'll lose all sensitivity."
