Prosecutors say Moussaoui's mental health may be issue

[Kadie]

Prosecutors say Moussaoui's mental health may be issue

The Associated Press


Last Updated: July 6, 2004, 07:10:00 PM PDT


ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - The mental health of terrorism defendant Zacarias Moussaoui is likely to play a significant role if the potential death penalty case reaches the penalty phase, a government said in a motion Tuesday.

Prosecutors asked a judge for an order that would permit the government to conduct a mental examination - and receive mental health information on Moussaoui - if the defense plans to raise the issue.

The government would only use the evaluation and medical information to rebut any defense strategy to spare Moussaoui the death penalty by citing his mental condition, the motion said.

The prosecution said it raised the issue because a federal appeals panel last April had restored the government's right to seek the death penalty. The trial judge, Leonie Brinkema, previously had barred the government from seeking Moussaoui's execution.

more... http://www.modbee.com/24hour/nation/story/1478338p-8913640c.html

[whistle]

1. This will be the George W Bush defense when he is brought...

...to trial, the mental midget defense.

[Chicago Democrat]

3. ok fair enough, life imprisonment

In the Hague, no death penalty anyway.

[struggle4progress]

2. Ashcroft's justice system seems designed to foster insanity.

Accused shopping mall plotter to undergo psychiatric evaluation
Friday, June 25, 2004 Posted: 1:07 PM EDT (1707 GMT)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A Somali refugee who displayed bizarre behavior during a court hearing on charges that he plotted to blow up a shopping mall has been transferred to a medical center for a psychiatric evaluation.

A judge ordered the exam to determine whether Nuradin Abdi is fit to stand trial. In court last week, the man pressed his face onto a tabletop, jerked his head randomly and muttered to himself.
<snip>

"He's a very sick man, mentally," Abdi's attorney, Mahir T. Sherif, said Friday. "He's way out there. He goes in, out between English and Arabic and Somali. It's all over the map."
<snip>

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/06/25/columbus.shopping.mall.ap/


Of course, since November, Abdi has spent most of his time in incommunicado detention. Other reports indicate that he did not recognize or respond to his family when he saw them in court.

[stickdog]

4. Yes, his mental health is obviously far too good for Ashcroft to try him.