Claim: How can a defense attorney in the Zacarias Moussaoui or the John Walker trial represent these men knowing what they are accused of? How can he or she willingly defend a person who appears so guilty?

Counter Claim: Even though the evidence is so great against each of these men, they are being tried in the United States and they do deserve a fair and impartial trial.

I am a defense attorney in the United States of America. My job is to make sure that the accused receive a fair and impartial trial. They may be guilty of the crime they have been charge with but they have rights, and I make sure that their rights have not been violated.

From the time that my clients are investigated for a crime, they have rights. They cannot be detained without a warrant. Their person or residence cannot be searched without a warrant. They do not have to answer any questions after being detained without the presence of their attorney. I must also make sure that any evidence collected was done so in a legal matter by the police and the prosecuting attorney.

This is my job as a defense attorney. My job was about to change drastically. I was sitting at my desk early one morning getting ready to go into court to defend a client who was accused of dealing cocaine and heroin to patrons at an area Night Club. I failed to mention that he was also the owner of the club. Did he sell the drugs in the club? Yes. But, did he also contributed to the renovation of an area youth organization. He was an active member of the community who just so happened to sell drugs out of his club. My job today was not to get him off, but to show the jury and the judge that he had made a mistake, knows it and has been rehabilitated for his drug addiction. So why should we lock up a first time offender who contributes so much to the community. Hold on, my phone is ringing. I'll be right back...............
That was my supervisor. I have been assigned a case defending Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker in the bombing of the WTC on September 11.
How does someone prepare for such a defense? How is this case different from the accused drug dealer? When you think of it, it is really not much different. Moussaoui, is accused of being the 20th hijacker on September 11. But he was in jail at the time for violating immigration laws. His Visa had expired. How was I going to prove this guy to be not guilty on the crime for which he is charged?

First I need to find out as much background information on Moussaoui as possible. Who is he, where does he come from, family background, when did he join al Qaeda and why was he being charged as the 20th hijacker.

It turns out he is a French Moroccan who joined the al Qaeda ten years ago and trained in a camp in Germany. What we found out about the training is astounding. They train in cells of seven to ten people. They are not told where they are or when they will be leaving. They are not told of their purpose or goal. They do not know the people that they are training with and they are not aloud to leave the organization.

These men who join al Qaeda are true believers in their cause. To ride the world of non-Muslims who oppress the Muslim world. In reading the book, The True Believer, they make many references that apply to what happens to the al Qaeda. "The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united actions and self-sacrifice." This one quote to me is what the members of al Qaeda believe. They are all joined together for a specific purpose. As the followers grow in numbers, the cause grows larger with them. The more followers there are the purpose gains powers as well. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill. The cause and purpose becomes so great, they will sacrifice their lives for the cause. They have devoted their lives to the cause.

Al Qaeda's cause is one of hatred. And as is says in the True believer, "Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all unifying agents." When a group has such strong feelings of hatred toward another group or cause, the ideals of the groups become even larger, like the need to wipe out the other group, no matter what the price. Even the price of life, even killing innocent people who were not involved.

The individual is so overwhelmed with what they are taught, the cause gets lost. They ban together to spread the Muslim faith. It all begins peaceful. But as the cause grows and there is an apparent opposition to the cause, it becomes violent. They become so engulfed in the cause that started out peaceful, that is becomes violent. And the problem is, once the violence starts, it is hard to stop.

Take the Middle East for instance. The Muslims and the Jews have been fight for centuries. And for what. A piece of property that each claims as theiur holy land. This is the cause for all this violence and terror. But by the time these men are recruited, the simple cause has escalated to an all out battle.
Some facts of this case, which I must defend, are: Moussaoui was arrested on August 16 for immigration violations. This is a fact and something he is guilty of, we are not arguing this. It is this fact that is the basis for out entire case. Moussaoui was detain during the September 11 bombings of WTC. Yeah they say he was in on the conspiracy, but we have strong evidence that proves that al Qaeda member are not aware of their goals before they are acted out. So if he was detained on August 16, he very well may not have known about the planned attacks.

The flight school instructors say that they were "suspicious" of Moussaoui and his needs to fly a Boeing 747. But they let him into the school and taught him the essentials of flying such an aircraft. And the last time I checked, it wasn't against the law to pay cash for goods or services in America.
He had the names and phone numbers of other known terrorists in his residence. We are not arguing that wasn't a member of the al Qaeda, we are arguing that he had no prior knowledge of the bombings. And we will prove this by calling numerous al Qaeda members who are being detained by the U.S. government. They will tell you that the goals and missions of the al Qaeda network are so secretive, that the trainees are totally unaware of the missions.
Some other facts the prosecution will state. On September 15, 2001 after being moved from one prison to another, he said F*ck you, F*ck America. He was merely displaying his displeasure with the Americans for the way that they have treated him since he has been detained. He is being abuse in his cell. Not so much physical beatings but he is left in his cell 24 hours a day. And when sleeping, a bright light is put in his face to wake him up and not able to sleep.
Everything that he does and continues to do is taken out of context and twisted because the government only has one man in custody to blame for 9/11. So they will do what ever it takes to make him look guilty before his trial even begins.

The prosecution says he attended the same flight school as other terrorists. When they attended the flight school, they were not terrorists. The flight school should be just as guilty as they are for not doing thorough background check. I know what you're thinking, how were the flight schools suppose to know that their plan was. That's my point exactly; even the terrorists didn't know why they were there.

So how am I, an American born and raised, suppose to defend a man accused of being involved a conspiracy against my country. I have no damn clue. But it is my job. And I believe in the America justice system. And I have taken an oath to defend those accused of crimes. There was no section stating how severe the crime would be. In a thousand years I never saw this coming. I never thought I would be so involved in a case such as this. This will be the trial of a lifetime and to tell you the truth I don't know if I want to win this one.

Michael Boyd.
Vmboyd17@aol.com