Moussaoui's Mental Health Scrutinized

Zacarias Moussaoui's behavior is abnormal even for an al Qaeda terrorist, a defense psychologist testified Tuesday.

Xavier Amador diagnosed the Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator with paranoid schizophrenia after observing his actions and writings since 2002. He cited delusional beliefs firmly held by Moussaoui, including his conviction that President Bush will free him from prison and that his court-appointed lawyers are in a conspiracy to kill him.

He also contrasted Moussaoui's erratic behavior with that of several other al Qaeda terrorists who have been tried in U.S. criminal court.

But prosecutors have their own medical experts who are going to say later this week that this diagnosis is unsound and shouldn't affect the jury's decision anyway, according to CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.

The defense introduced affidavits filed by lawyers for Ramzi Yousef, serving life in prison for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and other al Qaeda members. All the lawyers said their clients actively assisted their defenses and did not believe their lawyers were working against them.

"What we see with this individual is unique to him," Amador said. "It's not al Qaeda."

Amador said the clincher in making his diagnosis was an April 2005 encounter with Moussaoui in which the defendant in the nation's only Sept. 11, 2001, prosecution repeatedly spit water on him and appeared to be talking to himself.

The psychologist said the visit lasted for about an hour, and that Moussaoui spent much of the time telling Amador to go away. Amador observed Moussaoui talking to himself in a manner that did not appear to be prayer, the witness said.

When Amador refused to go away, he said, Moussaoui spit water at him more than a dozen times before finally resigning himself to Amador's presence.

Moussaoui then complained that jail guards used excessive force in taking him from his Alexandria jail cell to a deposition at the federal courthouse. He also told Amador that Bush would release him from prison.

Amador testified that he had become convinced Moussaoui was suffering from a delusional thought disorder before the incident, and that encounter reinforced his belief.

Cohen said the psychologist's testimony is key to the defense.

"The defense only has this one card to play to explain Moussaoui's conduct, his devious passion, and only this one chance to try to generate sympathy for a guy who has said such awful things in court," Cohen said. "Sometimes as a lawyer you take your best shot and hope it resonates with at least one juror."

Moussaoui mocked the testimony about his having schizophrenia. He said "beautiful terrorist mind" as he was led from court during a recess, referring to the movie "A Beautiful Mind," which is about a mathematician with schizophrenia.

After a second break, he said, smiling broadly, "Crazy or not crazy, that is the question."

Amador based his diagnosis, revealed during testimony Monday, largely on conclusions of other mental-health professionals and an analysis of Moussaoui's actions and writings over a period of years. These included the numerous rambling, often insulting, legal motions that Moussaoui filed during an 18-month period in which he represented himself.

Moussaoui's defense lawyers, who are at odds with their client, say he is delusional and cite his testimony last week about a dream that Bush would free him from prison before his lifetime sentence has expired.

It remains uncertain whether he will be sentenced to life. The job of the jury sitting in federal court in Alexandria is to decide whether Moussaoui should be executed or serve life in prison without parole. Those options are all they have since Moussaoui has pleaded guilty to conspiring with al Qaeda to fly planes into U.S. buildings.

One of Moussaoui's jail guards offered a few more details of Moussaoui's dream during testimony Monday. Deputy Vikas Ohri said Moussaoui has told him that after Bush frees him, he will "fly to London, write a book, make some money and go back to the mountains of Afghanistan and be al Qaeda."

He said he has also seen Moussaoui standing in front of a wall talking to himself. He asked Moussaoui about it once, and Moussaoui said he was practicing for court.

Moussaoui is the only person charged in this country in the Sept. 11 attacks. The jury deciding his fate has already declared him eligible for the death penalty by determining that his actions caused at least one death on 9/11.

Even though Moussaoui was in jail in Minnesota at the time of the attacks, the jury ruled that his lies to federal agents a month before the attacks kept authorities from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.

Amador cited other evidence of Moussaoui's paranoia, including his belief that his court-appointed lawyers are in a conspiracy to kill him and his belief that an electric fan that he picked up from the curb outside his Oklahoma apartment was bugged by the FBI.

Moussaoui previously said he believes all Americans, including his lawyers, want him killed. He acknowledged in testimony that he thought the fan may have been bugged, but he was not convinced of it.

Amador said Moussaoui, in his testimony, was trying to "normalize" his paranoid beliefs.

Amador said Moussaoui's behavior is inconsistent even with that of his al Qaeda comrades. He noted that earlier trial evidence showed Moussaoui was unable to follow basic instructions from al Qaeda leaders.