2006年VOA标准英语-Moussaoui Testifies at 9/11 Sentencing Tri

By Jim Malone
Washington
13 April 2006

Confessed al-Qaida conspirator¹ Zacarias Moussaoui complained about his defense² lawyers Thursday during his sentencing trial in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington.

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Zacarias Moussaoui  
  

For the second time in this trial, Moussaoui took the witness stand and once again complained that his defense team has done a bad job of representing his interests.

A federal jury must decide whether Moussaoui should be put to death or sent to prison for life because he failed to tell authorities about the September 11 terrorist plot when he was arrested three weeks before the attacks.

On Thursday, defense lawyer Gerald Zerkin asked Moussaoui if he thought his lawyers were part of a conspiracy³ to kill him.

Moussaoui replied that he thought his defense attorneys had been engaged in what he called "criminal non-assistance."

Moussaoui also complained that he could not get a fair trial so close to the Pentagon, one of the targets on September 11, 2001. The Pentagon is located only a few kilometers from the courthouse where his trial is being held. And Moussaoui said that if he had control over his own defense, he would have argued for life in prison so that he could be available for a prisoner swap⁴ if U.S. troops were captured overseas.

Artist's rendering⁵ shows NTSB Chief of Recorder Division James Cash, second from left, testifying about cockpit recording⁶ from UA Flight 93, as Zacarias Moussaoui, left, listens, April 12, 2006  
  
The defense testimony⁷ came a day after the prosecution⁸ wound up its arguments for Moussaoui's execution by playing cockpit voice recordings⁹ from United Airlines Flight 93, one of four airliners¹⁰ hijacked¹¹ on September 11.

The voice recordings depicted¹² a struggle on board the aircraft between passengers and the hijackers that eventually resulted in the plane crashing into a Pennsylvania field.

Moussaoui is known for his outbursts in the courtroom and his demeanor¹³ has clearly angered family members of some of those who died in the 9/11 attacks.

Rosemary Dillard's husband Eddie was aboard the plane that smashed into the Pentagon on September 11. She has been watching Moussaoui in court.

"Witnesses would be up there pouring out their hearts and he is sitting there smirking," she said. "I mean, to have no concept of a what a life is worth, I just can't imagine a person being that way."

Defense lawyers are trying to spare Moussaoui from the death penalty. They argue that Moussaoui is mentally ill and exaggerated his role in the 9/11 plot.

His attorneys also say he was lying last month when he testified that he was supposed to fly a fifth hijacked plane into the White House on September 11.

Legal analyst¹⁴ Jonathan Turley says Moussaoui's conflicting statements could hurt his chances of avoiding the death penalty, if that is what he wants.

"He seems to be living in his own world," he said. "He has an intense egotism to him where he simply believes he is smarter than he is and he has this desire to be in control."

Moussaoui is the only person tried and convicted in connection with the September 11 attacks. The jury in the case has only two options: sentence him to death or to life in prison with no chance for parole.

1 conspirator   

n.阴谋者，谋叛者

参考例句：

• We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他，恶狠狠地骂个不停。
• A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

4 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

5 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

6 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

9 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

10 airliners   

n.客机，班机( airliner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The fog grounded the airliners. 大雾迫使班机停飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They placed very stable and accurate atomic clocks on regularly scheduled jet airliners. 他们将非常稳定、准确的原子钟装在定期飞行的喷气式班机上。 来自辞典例句

11 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

12 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

13 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。