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Updated April 24, 2006, 11:09 a.m. ET

Closing arguments begin in Moussaoui death penalty trial

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Telling jurors "there is no place on this good Earth for Zacarias Moussaoui," prosecutors asked the jury Monday to sentence the Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator to death.

"It is time to put an end to all this," said prosecutor David Raskin. "It is time to put an end to his hatred and venom."

Raskin pointed out how Moussaoui mocked the testimony of Sept. 11 victims and their families throughout the trial.

"The defendant rejoices in all that pain. He told you that himself," Raskin said. "He loved it because he was responsible for it. He loved it because it meant to him, mission accomplished."


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The defense was to give its closing arguments later Monday. The jury was expected to begin deliberations Monday afternoon.

Raskin ridiculed the notion that any of the defense evidence could excuse Moussaoui's conduct.

"What could possibly mitigate all of this? Did you hear anything that even remotely counterbalances all the aggravating evidence?"

Specifically, Raskin rejected the defense argument that Moussaoui is a schizophrenic.

"Just because we can't comprehend this kind of evil, doesn't mean he suffers a mental illness. We will never understand evil like this," Raskin said.

He also urged the jury to reject the defense argument that executing Moussaoui will make him a martyr.

"He wants you to think Osama bin Laden will be mad at us. Do you think Osama bin Laden gives a damn about what happens here? ... That is a joke," Raskin said.

He concluded by telling jurors that "your decision in this case is not a close call."

The closing arguments came after a six-week trial that ran the gamut from jaw-dropping to heartbreaking testimony.

The federal jury has only two choices when it begins deliberations: death or life in prison. The judge will be bound to impose their decision.

Moussaoui is the only person in this country charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The jury earlier found him eligible for execution by determining that his actions caused at least one death that day. Although Moussaoui was in jail on Sept. 11, the jury ruled that lies he told federal agents when he was arrested in August 2001 on immigration violations allowed the plot to go forward.

The jury's decision now focuses on whether Moussaoui deserves the death penalty. Prosecutors emphasized the emotional impact of 9/11 on victims and their families.

They presented testimony from dozens of victim-impact witnesses whose testimony often left jurors in tears. Emotions switched from sorrow to rage when prosecutors cross-examined Moussaoui, who mocked the victims' testimony and took glee in the aftermath of 9/11.

Moussaoui had previously taken the stand and stunned the courtroom by claiming he was to have piloted a fifth plane on 9/11, after years of denying a role in the attacks.

The defense sought to blunt the victim-impact testimony by putting a dozen 9/11 family members on the stand in support of Moussaoui. The witnesses were barred from explicitly saying they favored life in prison, but got their point across by saying that they do not seek vengeance.

Much of the testimony also revolved around Moussaoui's mental health. Experts hired by the defense diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic who suffers delusions, including his firmly held belief that President Bush will free him from prison.

Government-appointed experts say Moussaoui is not mentally ill and attribute his beliefs about Bush to religious zealotry.

Even if the jury believes Moussaoui is schizophrenic, they can still decide to execute him. In many trials, proof of mental illness is a determining factor in what happens to a defendant, but in this case it is just one of many factors the jury will be asked to weigh

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