ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui returned to the witness stand Thursday, arguing that he could not get a fair trial so close to the Pentagon. He also denied that he was trying to sabotage his defense by testifying earlier that he was to have piloted a fifth plane during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.\nMoussaoui went on to testify that he believes his court-appointed lawyers are working against him and said that if he had control over his defense, he would have argued that he should escape the death penalty and be available for a prisoner swap if American troops are captured overseas.\nMoussaoui testified Thursday that "for the last four years, I have been fighting" against the death penalty. He then said he considered the consequences of his previous testimony about his role in Sept. 11 and "decided to just put my trust in God, tell the truth and time will tell."\nAssailing his court-appointed lawyers, Moussaoui said, "You have put your vested interest in keeping this case in your hands, above my interest to save my life." \n-- Associated Press writer \nMichael J. Sniffen contributed to this report.
Moussaoui suggested they preferred the fame that comes from handling a high-profile trial rather than seeking a change of venue to move the case away from Virginia, a state with a reputation for jurors amenable to the death penalty.\nZerkin had asked him if he believed that his defense team was in a conspiracy to kill him. Moussaoui responded that they have been engaged in "criminal non-assistance."\nSpecifically, he said, defense lawyers should have fought to move the case away from Alexandria, which is a short distance from the Pentagon. The mammoth Defense Department headquarters was hit by one of aircraft terrorists hijacked. \nIn April 2002, while he was serving as his own defense counsel, Moussaoui filed a motion seeking to move the trial. He cited an overrepresentation of government employees in the area and also said there was more intense media attention in the northern Virginia area due to the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon.\nU.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, however, rejected the claim and said Moussaoui would be able to get an impartial jury.\nEarlier, Moussaoui's lawyers opened his defense by seeking to convince jurors to spare his life and put him in a place from which he could never escape.\nAn expert on prison policy and management testified that if Moussaoui is spared the death penalty he would spend the rest of his life in the highest-security federal prison facilities after he is sentenced.\nJames E. Aiken, the first defense witness in the second phase of Moussaoui's death-penalty trial, said Moussaoui would always require the highest level of supervision and would be isolated not only from the outside world but also from other prisoners.\n"I don't care how good he is said Aiken. "I don't care how compliant he is. He will be in the security envelope as long as he lives."\nOn cross examination, Aiken acknowledged that Moussaoui regularly taunts his guards and that guards have twice had to forcibly remove him from his cell.\n"He's not going to be inmate of the year," Aiken conceded.\nThe jury took an extended break when lawyers went into a closed hearing in late morning. Moussaoui, as he was led out of the courtroom, bellowed, "Victory for Moussaoui! God curse you all!"\nMoussaoui's defense team over the next several days is expected to argue that his life should be spared because of his limited role in the 9/11 attacks. They plan to present evidence that he is mentally ill and that his execution would only play into his dream of martyrdom.\nOne witness the defense intends to call is would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid, who is serving a life sentence in Colorado.\nDefense lawyers have suggested that Moussaoui lied during his testimony to ensure he would be executed and achieve martyrdom. They have also said Moussaoui is merely "an al-Qaida hanger-on" who is seeking to inflate his stature.\nMental health evidence will include the history of schizophrenia in Moussaoui's family. A defense expert has said that Moussaoui probably suffers from schizophrenia, but Moussaoui has refused to cooperate with defense doctors' evaluations.\nIt is also likely that some family members of Sept. 11 victims will testify for the defense as the court-appointed lawyers try to counter those who testified for the government. Some family members have stated publicly that they do not want Moussaoui to be executed. Trial rules, however, prohibit witnesses from offering their opinion on whether Moussaoui should live or die.\nThe jury that will decide whether Moussaoui is executed or sentenced to life in prison has already heard from dozens of Sept. 11 family members, who offered agonizing, emotional testimony about the aftermath of their loved ones' deaths.\nMoussaoui is the only person charged in this country in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. The jury deciding his fate has already declared him eligible for the death penalty by determining that his actions caused at least one death on Sept. 11.\nEven though he was in jail in Minnesota at the time of the attacks, the jury ruled that lies told by Moussaoui to federal agents a month before the attacks kept them from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.\n-- Associated Press writer Michael J. Sniffen contributed to this report.
