2006年VOA标准英语-US Judge Temporarily Suspends Moussaoui Tr

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
13 March 2006

A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States in connection with the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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Artist's rendering¹ of prosecutor² David Novak, right, and defense³ attourney Edward MacMahon, center, pleading their cases to Judge Leonie Brinkema during Zacarius Moussaoui's sentencing trial, March 9, 2006
  

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has called for a recess⁴ in court proceedings⁵ aimed at deciding whether confessed al-Qaida conspirator⁶ Zacarias Moussaoui should face the death penalty, which is the sentence requested by the government. The other possibility is life in prison, without chance of parole.

Moussaoui last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy⁷ charges in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, which killed nearly 3,000 people. At the time, he told the court he was involved in a planned attack on the White House.

Judge Brinkema said a federal lawyer violated a pretrial order that barred prosecutors⁸ from sharing information with witnesses. The judge called the violation⁹ "egregious," and added that it is "very difficult for this case to go forward."

The judge said this is the government's "second significant error" affecting Moussaoui's "constitutional rights," and said this affects the "integrity of the U.S. criminal justice system."

Defense lawyer Ed MacMahon said Moussaoui would not get a fair trial. He had asked the judge to dismiss the death penalty, and instead sentence the defendant¹⁰ to life in prison.

Alberto Gonzales at a press conference, March 13, 2006  
  
Reporters at the Justice Department asked U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the case.

"I'm not going to speculate on what the judge may or may not do," he said. "And, given where we are in the state of this trial, it would be inappropriate for me to comment at all."

Outside the court room, Eddie Bracken, whose sister died in the 9/11 attacks, said he would be upset and disappointed at the process if Moussaoui is not sentenced to death.

 
Eddie Bracken speaks after fifth day of Moussaoui sentencing trial in Alexandria, Virginia
  
"If we don't use him as an example, then there'll be another person stepping up and saying, 'you know what? I'll get away with it," he said.

He says the families of 9/11 victims are very interested in what happens to Moussaoui.

"He's the only one alive that we can get," Bracken said.

Judge Brinkema has several options. She could accept the defense motion to dismiss the government's bid for a death penalty. She could also let the trial continue, with some or none of the witnesses excluded. Or, if she declares a mistrial, the government could retry the case.

The judge is holding a special hearing Tuesday with the offending government lawyer and the witnesses he is accused of coaching. The Moussaoui sentencing trial, which started March 6, could resume as early as Wednesday.

1 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。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 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。

4 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

5 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

6 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。

7 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。

8 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

9 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

10 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。