The NYTimes milks the sob story of Zacarias Moussaoui’s defense team.

Headline: Moussaoui’s Childhood Is Presented as Mitigating Factor

Nausea-inducing excerpt:

Lawyers trying to persuade a jury to spare the life of Zacarias Moussaoui began presenting testimony about his childhood on Monday, to show that he grew up in a neglectful household in France where his father beat his mother regularly and that he spent much of his youth in orphanages.

Witnesses also said Mr. Moussaoui was unprepared to deal with the racist anti-Islamic taunts of schoolmates and the hostility of the parents of a French girlfriend.

Jan Vogelsang, a clinical social worker from South Carolina, led off with a psychological survey of the Moussaoui family and their continuing mental health problems. The day concluded with the testimony of Dr. Xavier Amador, a psychologist who has interviewed the defendant several times and told the jury that Mr. Moussaoui suffered from schizophrenia of the paranoid variety.

Between the testimony of those two mental health professionals, the jury heard from friends of Mr. Moussaoui in France during his teenage years and early 20’s. The man they described was nearly unrecognizable from the angry defendant the jury saw last week expressing regret that more people had not been killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

The friends, some testifying in person and some via videotape, described the young Mr. Moussaoui as joyful company and a loyal friend. A boyhood friend, Gilles Cohen, testified in person that they often discussed the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr. Cohen, who has a Jewish parent, said he and Mr. Moussaoui had agreed that they “exemplified the possibility of two people of different origins to come together to have an understanding.”

Ms. Vogelsang, who did not interview Mr. Moussaoui but spoke with his relatives, teachers and doctors in France, testified that Mr. Moussaoui’s father, a former boxer, regularly beat both of Mr. Moussaoui’s sisters but that most of the abuse was directed at his wife, who frequently required hospitalization. Ms. Vogelsang said the father, Omar Moussaoui, who had immigrated to France from Morocco, also “used starvation to control” his wife. It was unclear if and how often Zacarias Moussaoui was beaten.

Ms. Vogelsang also said Mr. Moussaoui was unprepared to deal with racism at schools and orphanages.

The LA Times chose this doozy of a headline:

Moussaoui’s Sisters Defend `Sweetheart’

AP adds:

A defense psychologist testified Monday that Zacarias Moussaoui is a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions, as defense lawyers presented additional evidence the confessed Sept. 11 conspirator believes he will be freed from prison by President Bush.

Psychologist Xavier Amador testified Moussaoui displays symptoms of the brain disorder, including delusions and disorganized thoughts and speech.

Don’t believe the insanity hype. Moussaoui proved he was probably the sanest one in the courtroom when he responded to his bleeding-heart defense team’s efforts to spare him from the death penalty:

Struggling to save Moussaoui from execution, court-appointed defense lawyers called a clinical social worker, Moussaoui’s high school friends and his older sisters to try to offset his second damaging appearance on the witness stand last week. Clinical social worker Jan Vogelsang testified it was not her purpose to make excuses for Moussaoui’s actions but to understand how he reached that point.

They described a boy who witnessed violence at home and endured five stints in orphanages, frequent moves and deep poverty but nevertheless became an engaging and fun-loving teenager known for his smile and his ambition.

His Moroccan ancestry and lack of family financial backing, however, helped block his ambitions, first in France and then in London. He withdrew from family and friends in 1995, gained weight, shaved his head and took up Islamic fundamentalism, these witnesses said.

Jurors took copious notes during Vogelsang’s testimony. But Moussaoui later said, “It’s a lot of American B.S.”

You can say that again.

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