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Is Moussaoui Competent Enough to Act as His Own Lawyer?

Aired June 13, 2002 - 13:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The man who authorities say intended to be the 20th hijacker on September 11 returns to court this hour. At issue: Is Zacarias Moussaoui competent enough to be his own attorney? CNN's Deborah Feyerick filed this report just before the proceeding began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The question, is Zacarias Moussaoui crazy or is he mentally competent to act as his own lawyer, as he would like to? Well, Moussaoui arrived at the courthouse just about noon under heavy guard, as you can imagine. His own lawyers say that his ideology appears laced with what they call serious psycho-pathology. He feels as if he is being persecuted. They also say his desire to get rid of his legal counsel all together is a product of what they call mental disease or defect. Lawyers point to a family history of mental illness and say that a court appointed psychiatrist should have taken a closer look at this, when considering whether Zacarias Moussaoui was rational.

Prosecutors are going to argue something very different. They say that indeed Zacarias Moussaoui is fine and very rational indeed. They say that he was sane enough to enroll in two American flight schools and take 50 hours of flying lessons. They do acknowledge, however, that, by representing himself, it would be ill advised and act basically as a self-destructive act.

There is another big problem. That has to do with security clearance. His lawyers have it; he does not. He is not going to get it. There is a lot of evidence that is classified and highly sensitive. A judge yesterday said that Zacarias Moussaoui would not have any access to this. She said it could potentially fall into terrorist's hands and undermine the whole U.S. security system. Three psychiatrists, so far, have analyzed Zacarias Moussaoui, one appointed by the court. He found Zacarias Moussaoui to be rational. Two psychiatrists appointed by his own team said his writings and behavior show something he very different.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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