Federal Court Posts Online Nearly All Evidence From Moussaoui Trial

Officials at the federal court in Alexandria posted on the Web yesterday nearly all the evidence presented during the sentencing trial of Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, marking the first time a federal court has provided such extensive online access in a criminal case.

The 1,202 exhibits capture the drama -- and occasional drudgery -- of the death penalty hearing of the only person convicted in the United States on charges stemming from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Moussaoui, 38, was sentenced to life in prison in May after a seven-week trial in U.S. District Court.

Although courts nationwide have increasingly put documents online in recent years, it is unclear whether others will follow the Alexandria federal court's example.

Edward A. Adams, a spokesman for the court, attributed the decision to the unique circumstances of the case.

"Given the widespread media attention to this case, putting the exhibits online was the most efficient way to provide public and media access," he said.

With a series of clicks, Web users can hear recordings of frantic 911 calls from people trapped inside the burning trade center towers and see videos of the towers collapsing. The court's Web site for the evidence is http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits .

Some of the images are accompanied by warnings that "viewer discretion" or "listener discretion" is advised.

The explanations that accompany them are almost clinical at times, including "photograph taken on September 11, 2001, of a human body part located at the intersection of Albany and West Streets in Manhattan."

The exhibits also retrace the movements of the 19 hijackers in occasionally mind-numbing detail, through receipts of wire transfers, car rentals and bank deposits.

The journey of Moussaoui is also chronicled, through records that place him at flight schools in Oklahoma and Minnesota and photographs of his arrest a month before Sept. 11. Moussaoui was arrested on immigration violations and was in jail during the attacks.

Prosecutors argued that Moussaoui should be executed because his lies to the FBI allowed the terrorist plot to go forward. Defense attorneys said that Moussaoui knew little about the plot and that federal officials probably would have failed to act on any information he provided.

After weeks of testimony, which included footage of people jumping from the trade center to their deaths, the anonymous jury decided that Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty, should go to prison for life.

The jury foreman told The Washington Post that one juror stood between Moussaoui and death; the panel voted 11 to 1 for execution on one of the three counts.

Even with yesterday's Web posting, seven trial exhibits remain classified or under seal. They include a video presentation of the cockpit voice recorder of United Airlines Flight 93, whose passengers fought the hijackers and forced them to crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. Only a transcript of the recording is available online.