As the sentencing phase of the Zacarias Moussaoui trial begins, one local resident will be paying particular attention to the proceedings.
Blake Allison, a Hanover resident, lost his wife Anna during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Allison, along with other family members of victims of the attacks, watches a daily closed-circuit television broadcast of the trial at the U.S. District Court in Boston. The group of about a half-dozen relatives that attends the broadcast on a daily basis has titled itself "The Usual Suspects," according to Allison.
Yesterday, Moussaoui's trial entered the phase upon which a punishment will be decided after jurors found him responsible on Monday for at least some of the deaths on Sept. 11. This verdict renders him eligible for the death penalty.
"The only punishment that fits this crime is the death penalty," chief prosecutor Robert Spencer said.
While a number of family members have openly expressed support for the execution of Moussaoui, others such as Allison do not support a death sentence in the trial.
"I have felt from the outset that Moussaoui didn't deserve the death penalty for his role in this because I did have doubts about his relationship to the events of Sept. 11," Allison said.
Allison placed blame on the prosecution for not presenting a more convincing trial and stated that the testimony of FBI agent Harry Samit was damaging to the prosecution's case.
"And the prosecutors have done nothing to alter my opinion ... I was hoping that this would bring to light information that would put the events into a more clear light, and I am very disappointed that that has not happened," he said.
Even immediately after the terrorist attacks, Allison called for an American response that would be consistent with the law.
"I am not in favor of rash and indiscriminate acts of retaliation that could lead to the deaths of more innocent people," Allison said in an interview published eight days after the attacks. "I think as much as possible, the guilty should be tracked down and brought before a court of law to face justice."
To date, Moussaoui is the only person in this country to have criminal charges leveled against him for having a direct connection to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani testified before the jury yesterday to recount the events of Sept. 11 from his perspective. Giuliani described watching people jump to their deaths from the burning World Trade Center.
Moussaoui stared at Giuliani throughout his testimony. When a videotape was aired in the courtroom showing the destruction of the towers, Moussaoui was seen smiling.
Gerald Zerkin, Moussaoui's court-appointed lawyer, plans to argue that Moussaoui is mentally unbalanced and easily influenced by proponents of radical Islamic ideas, and he is undeserving of the death penalty.
This phase of the trial is expected to last several weeks.
