Zacarias Moussaoui trial woes
 

Nothing like zapping your enemies into giving false confessions. Hard to say if the info from MSNBC is true, but it wouldn't suprise me in this new age of torture your enemy to get information out of them. Why can't we get an honest conviction from these bad guys like Saddam and Moussaoui and other terrorists? If they are so guilty then let them be tried and convicted the right way.

MSNBC video here...

I guess the really wierd part about it is they talk about it as if stun belts aren't an uncommon occurence in the courtroom? :hmm:

With dangerous and unpredictable defendants, it isn't that uncommon. There are usually very strict guidelines regarding when the button can be pushed.

Regardless, this whole trial is turning into a debacle. Moussaoui is so obviosly a nutjob and not all there that the death penalty should be off the table. He was definitely involved with something, but none of the top Al Qada guys in custody are putting him anywhere near the 9/11 attack. Maybe he was going to be a second wave, maybe not, but he's more interested in proclaiming himself to be Napoleon or bin Ladin's head of security than he is being a part of this trial. It really reminds me of the trials in the 1930's Soviet Union of the old Bolsheviks. Bizarre.

funny, i was thinking about the bukharin trial as well with reference to this one.

If he IS wearing a stun-belt, it should only be implemented if he becomes physically violent. These make quite a racket, IIRC, and would be immediately noticeable if they attempted to coerce testimony out of him by using it.

Thats the beauty of intimidating him with it. They don't have to use it on camera. As long as he has been zapped before, he will do what they want for fear they will use it agian. The fact that it is on him AT ALL TIMES gives that threat an ever-present dimension, and he controls himself.