Government lawyers appeal to Moussaoui judge

Prosecutors are urging a judge to reconsider her decision to exclude half the US government’s case against confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

They acknowledge their only hope of obtaining the death penalty for the 37-year-old Frenchman who studied in London is to persuade Judge Leonie Brinkema that she punished the government too harshly for tampering with trial witnesses.