New Bid to Avert Death in Sept. 11 Trial at Gitmo

[Judi Lynn]

New Bid to Avert Death in Sept. 11 Trial at Gitmo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico February 17, 2012 (AP)

Lawyers for the nephew of a self-proclaimed terrorist mastermind say their client doesn't deserve a possible death sentence in a war crimes trial to be held at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay.

Lawyers for Ali Abdul Aziz Ali say he should not face capital charges because he is accused of a relatively minor role in the Sept. 11 plot.

Aziz Ali is accused of sending money to the Sept. 11 hijackers and providing other assistance. He and his uncle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three others are charged with murder and other war crimes in a trial expected to start this year.

Prosecutors have asked for capital charges that would make them eligible for the death penalty. A defense motion filed Friday argues for non-capital charges.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bid-avert-death-sept-11-trial-gitmo-15725134

[DUIC]

1. Interesting defense. He did not pull the trigger, he only loaded the gun

He is going to make an affirmative defense that he helped facilitate the commission of murder?

[christx30]

3. That brings up a good point

as an accessory to the murder of over 3000 people, does the penalty go up? I know that in some places, the penalty is 3 years. Times 3000 people, that's over 9000 years in jail. They could just say life in prison with no possibility for parole, but hardly seems worth the heinous scope of the crime.

[arely staircase]

4. i don't think so - only that it isn't a capital crime - what he's accused of nt

[DUIC]

6. Murders committed in the commission of a felony fall equally to all defendants

If a bank customer had a heart attack in a bank robbery, the getaway driver gets charged for homicide.

[arely staircase]

8. if there is a conspiracy charge, yes; all participants in the conspiracy are culpable for what

anyone else does to further the conspiracy. that is true in common law and probably statute in most states as well as on the federal level. however, i must ask: under what law is this guy being tried? what statute is he specifically acused of violating? actually, i have not been opposed to military tribunals for certain terrorist suspects per se. my concern is whether or not they provide due process. my understanding is that they are now quite different than those first proposed by the bush administration. but i must admit i havent kept up enough to know if they have been brought up to general international standards, or even our own.

[Politicalboi]

2. They are some masterminds

They even held our military back from attacking them, all while flying over military bases. Amazing. But don't blame anyone. And go shop. Let's have a REAL trial on TV. Let's see the forensic evidence they have. If they were able to ID everyone like they said, they should have all kinds of evidence. I'm just waiting to see a picture of ANY seats in the debris. 800 seats, there has to be some evidence, and that evidence should be plain as day. Either empty or occupied, or burned up seats. But this is crazy talk here. Better to put innocent "arabs" in jail forever than face the truth.

[Odin2005]

5. Twoofer alert!!!

[EX500rider]

7. Did you miss the "self-proclaimed terrorist" part? n/t