ARLINGTON, Va., April 29 (UPI) -- As jurors in the trial of admitted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui deliberated Friday in Virginia, the judge warned them to avoid dictionaries.
Jurors are deciding whether Moussaoui should receive the death penalty.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said the jury should not consider any extraneous material, even dictionary definitions, CNN said. Her warning came after she learned that one juror had looked up the word "aggravating."
The jury must balance aggravating and mitigating factors to determine if Moussaoui deserves the death penalty. Brinkema told them that aggravating "essentially means to make something worse."
"Moussaoui, aggravating curse on America," the defendant said after the jury was out of the courtroom.
By the time they quit for the weekend Friday, jurors had spent 21 hours discussing the sentence. They missed one day Thursday because a juror was ill.
Prosecutors say Moussaoui, who was detained on immigration charges in 2001 but has admitted involvement with al-Qaida, failed to tell authorities about the impending Sept. 11 terror attacks.
