This.
Not because of it being Zacarias Moussaoui, but because of the dynamic that must have been in that room. … “We all agree. Except one of us.”

And what if you were that one guy? Would you sit quietly? Would you speak in favor of the death penalty? Because you know you better not let anyone know who you are. If the jurors knew, shoot, they could practically blackmail you. If the public knew, you’d probably get death threats and stuff.

Comments:

Brian - May 0, 2006

That’s true. I was actually surprised that more people weren’t against the death penalty. Once I heard the defense’s argument on NPR, I was like, “that makes sense.” Essentially, they said that he has said that he wants to be killed and become a martyr like those who were able to on 9/11. This means he has to be incarcerated forever, his life is wasted, it no longer has meaning. He now has to sit around and wait to die.

I don’t really know much about the case, but I think life in prison with no hope of parol is worse than the death penalty any day.