Long deliberation 'favours Moussaoui'

More than a week has passed since jurors in the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing trial began deliberating, and as time passes, the odds increase that the jury will refuse to order his execution, according to experts.

The jury ended a fifth day of deliberations in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday, with no decision on whether to execute Moussaoui, the only person charged in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks, or sentence him to life in prison.

So far, in more than 28 hours of deliberations, the jury has given few clues as to its decision-making process.

Jurors have asked only one question so far, a request for a dictionary that was denied by the judge.

Experts warn against reading too much into the process but agreed prolonged deliberation generally was a sign that at least a few jurors were reluctant to vote for a death sentence.

One “no” vote would mean life in prison for Moussaoui.

Frank Salvato, a defence lawyer in Alexandria, said the jurors probably spent much of their time making sense of the 42-page verdict form they will be required to complete, which asks them for findings on dozens of alleged aggravating and mitigating factors before reaching their ultimate judgment.

Still, he said at this point “there has to be some type of split or dissension” among the jury in reaching a verdict.

If by tomorrow the jury has not returned a verdict, Salvato said it would be a strong signal that reaching a unanimous death sentence would be difficult.

In this phase of the trial, a lack of unanimity clearly favours the defence, because of the requirement of unanimity for a death sentence.

Jeffrey Frederick, director of jury research for National Legal Research Group in Charlottesville, Virginia, agreed that longer deliberations tended to favour the defence.