courtroom sketch of Zacarias Moussaoui as he plead guilty on April 23, 2005 to conspiring with the 11 who hijackers that carried out the terrorists attacks of September 11.
Hopes for Healing as Spain’s Terror Trial Starts - New York Times
Court officials spent more than $2 million on new technology to allow Spanish citizens access to their "Trial of the Century" even as the country was on terror alert.
The bombing took the lives of 191 people in March 2004 a few weeks before the Spanish election. At the time of the bombing Spain's conservative government initially blamed the bombing on the Basque separatist group ETA, when they had no evidence to support this claim. This caused the many in the Spaniards to accuse the government of trying to manipulated them and the conservatives were voted out-of-power in the election.
Many people in America especially conservative took the election results as a sign that Spaniards voted for the socialists because they wanted their troops out of Iraq. Many conservatives believed this was a sign that the Spaniards were scared of the terrorists to the point where they were willing to appease them by leaving Iraq to avoid future violence. A few months after the election the new socialist Spanish government made good on their election promise by pulling their troops out of Iraq.
In America the election was seen as a win for the terrorists in Iraq and an attempt by Spanish voters to appease the terrorists. Few Americas actually know the real reason why the popular opinion shifted. Now the story is too old for any TV News stations to fill Americans in on the truth. The truth can only be explained in newspapers and only the few people who care about the news will bother to read the whole article and go online to find out what really happened.
The other issue that this brings up is while the Spanish are giving access to this trial over the Internet the only access that the citizens of Illinois get of most trials are paintings. No cameras allowed. Only a rendering of the jury and the witness. Why do they even bother?
What is so bad about having cameras in the trial room in the day of court TV?
Why Aren't Trials Televised in Illinois?
Why can't they make it available over the Internet so the public and the media can piece together what caused the verdict without having to hunt down the jurors who cannot always remember all the details. in court cases the defendant is support to be innocent until proven guilty but in the court of public opinion they are always held guilty until proven otherwise. Cameras in the court will give the public a chance to learn the details of the trial and Judge the defendant based on all the evidence.
Without cameras in the court all we get are the few clues that come out as the media bugs the police about their investigation of the crime scene. Many revelations of a investigation do not come out until the trial, but by that time most people believe they are guilty anyway.
The trial for the 12th Hijacker also favorite ketch artists over cameras. Have cameras in the courtroom will help the public a chance to see that what really goes on in the classroom is much different then what TV shows would let you believe. It would show them that many murder trials go to court without DNA evidence or a "smoking gun".
People are set to life in prison all the time based on circumstantial evidence. I'm not saying that's wrong, In real life the line between innocent and guilty is much thinner than TV shows would have you believe.
Madrid watches as bomb trial begins - Europe - MSNBC.com
This article includes a slide show of the bombing and the trial.
The trial is being broadcast live on Spanish television and on the Internet (www.datadiar.com). The court is providing simultaneous translation for witnesses or defendants who do not speak Spanish.
The site is in Spanish so here is a shortcut to where you can watch the trial Live.
Retransmisión del Juicio por los atentados del 11 de marzo de 2004 - Datadiar.com
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