Judge mulling dismissal of Moussaoui death penalty

ALEXANDRIA, Va, Mar 13 (Reuters) A federal judge today was considering whether to dismiss the death penalty case against September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui after a government lawyer violated a rule on sharing information with witnesses.

''In all the years I've been on the bench, I've never seen such an egregious violation of the court's rule on witnesses,'' US District Judge Leonie Brinkema said.

She then recessed the court, before jurors were brought in, to decide whether to dismiss the possible death sentence for Moussaoui, who last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with the September 11 attacks, and instead sentence him to life in prison.

Moussaoui, 37, an admitted al Qaeda member and the only person convicted in the United States in connection with the hijackings, is represented by a team of court-appointed lawyers, which he has repeatedly denounced in court.

He also has cursed America and smiled during accounts of the four airplanes that were slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Brinkema said a lawyer for the Federal Aviation Administration had violated the rule by reading the transcript of the first day of the trial and discussing the case with several potential witnesses who were due to be called by both the prosecution and the defence.

Brinkema said the lawyer, identified only as ''Ms Martin,'' had read transcripts of the opening arguments and discussed some of the testimony with potential witnesses.

Defence lawyer Edward MacMahon asked Brinkema to rule that Moussaoui cannot be sentenced to death for his crimes.

''This is not going to be a fair trial,'' MacMahon said.

''The proceedings just should be dismissed and Mr Moussaoui sentenced to life in prison,'' he added.

The defence already had requested a mistrial following an error by the government during the questioning of an FBI witness.

''This is the second significant error by the government affecting the constitutional rights of this defendant,'' Brinkema said. ''More importantly, it affects the integrity of the criminal justice system of the United States.'' The sentencing trial started March 6 and was expected to last up to three months.

REUTERS KD PM2148