The number of criminal defense attorneys in Virginia reflects the level of concern many residents have about crime. Alexandria is a historic city, famous for being George Washington’s hometown, but it’s also home to an alarmingly high crime rate. As a result, if you are accused of committing a crime in this area, it is important to get the help of an experienced and dedicated Alexandria criminal defense attorney.
During his trial for plotting to blow up a fifth airliner, confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui has been putting his lawyers under fire. At one point, he called them “murderers,” saying they are trying to kill him and he is a threat to the United States.
He criticized them for failing to seek a change of venue because it would have put the trial near the Pentagon. He said they were also trying to sabotage his case by tying him to the 9/11 attacks, which occurred in New York and Washington, D.C. He also questioned why they didn’t ask prosecutors about a plea bargain.
Lawyers are trying to convince jurors that Charles Severance, who killed three Alexandria residents over a 10-year span, was motivated by revenge against a former sheriff. Bellows, a Fairfax County judge, allowed prosecutors to object to the theory, but he did reverse his decision Thursday, allowing the defense to present evidence that James Dunning, a longtime sheriff who died in 2003, was behind the deaths of Nancy Dunning, Ruthanne Lodato and Ron Kirby.
But prosecutors said the defense theory wrongly drags James Dunning’s name through the mud, and they argued that detectives had focused on him extensively in their investigation of the murders. They said Dunning also had a history of stalking women and was accused of trying to kill a local law enforcement officer who arrested him for stealing his car.
If he is found guilty, he could face the death penalty. He may also end up in a high-security federal prison.
In a plea deal, he could have avoided the death penalty by telling the government what he knows about the terrorist attack. But he would have had to have provided credible information that the government could use against others.
The Alexandria criminal defense attorneys who are defending Moussaoui, however, have made it clear that they don’t think he has any valuable information that could be used against others. They argue that he has no credibility and that he could be a danger to the United States.
He could also be a danger to the country if he is convicted of terrorism and given the death penalty, because he has connections with Islamic State leaders. He has also been linked to a plot to bomb the World Trade Center and other New York landmarks.
Moussaoui is a man who has been on the run for 11 months, and the prosecution is attempting to impose the death penalty on him. But if he can give the government credible evidence that he was involved in the attacks, he might be able to convince the jury to spare his life and instead sentence him to serve a term of years in a high-security federal prison.