6A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2006
A member of the press gives the thumbs down as he leaves U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday after the jury in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui failed to reach a verdict after their sixth day of deliberations.
Jury asks for days off
BY MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Jurors in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui completed their sixth day of deliberations Tuesday without deciding whether the Sept. 11 conspirator should be executed or sentenced to life in prison.
of sentenced to two
The nine men and three women went home after 6 3/4 hours of work Tuesday, bringing their total deliberations so far to 35 1/4 hours. They are to return Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, a transcript unsealed Tuesday revealed that the jurors decided to knock off work early this week — at 1:15 p.m. Thursday — so one juror could attend his parents' 50th wedding anniversary out of state and another juror could attend his daughter's induction into the National Junior Honor Society.
Judge Leonie Brinkema
advised lawyers in the case "Don't
assume from this that the jury will necessarily go to Friday." according to the transcript of a telephone conference Monday afternoon. Her phone conference with the lawyers was prompted by notes from the jury asking for what the forewoman called "two special considerations for this week."
The jury had been setting its schedule one day at a time, but late Monday it released a schedule that went through May 8 and included the early departure Thursday and a day off Friday. Some surmised then that the jurors were settling in for long deliberations.
But Brinkema told the lawyers Monday, "I don't really know why they sent this (note) to us this早 in the week, but, you know, obviously, they're trying to, I guess, make sure they're organized for the week."
With the agreement of prosecutors and defense attorneys, Brinke
The jurors have given few clues about their decision-making process. They have asked only one question — a request for a dictionary that was denied by the judge.
ma advised the jury it was allowed to set its own work schedule.
Later Brinkema learned that one juror — the same man whose daughter is being inducted into the honor society — had consulted a dictionary for the meaning of "aggravating," so she gave them a legal and dictionary definition of the term used to describe evidence that makes a death sentence more appropriate. And she told them again to ask her questions rather than do their own research.
then own research. The jury is weighing 10 aggravating factors and 23 mitigating factors in the evidence introduced during the six-week trial to decide whether Moussaoui deserves execution or life behind bars.
ENTERTAINMENT
'ER' focuses on Darfur
BY LYNN ELBER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — More often than not, television has looked away from the complex, searing reality of Darfur.
The episode, "There are no Angels Here" (10 p.m. EDT), is airing during a burst of attention
the new thinking "Darfur is a glaring example of a situation in the world that people don't know enough about, that they need to know more about and, hopefully, help start to find solutions," said "ER" executive producer David Zabel.
The three network evening newscasts devoted less than a combined 10 minutes so far this year to the political and ethnic conflict that has killed at least 180,000 and driven 2 million more from their homes in the western Sudan province since 2003.
NBC's "ER" puts Dr. Gregory Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) in the thick of the desperate situation with former colleague Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle). The result is urgent drama aimed at jolting viewers into recognition of the immense suffering taking place.
The potential audience is big. The nightly newscasts on NBC ABC and CBS attract roughly 7 million to 9 million viewers each while "ER" although no longer among TV's top-rated series in its 12th season, averages more than 12 million viewers.
On Thursday, an entertainment show will quadruple the broadcast news Darfur allotment.
ger, disease and...
"She wants to know if her daughter will die today or tomorrow," an interpreter says. Carter hesitates but can't deny the inevitability of her loss.
In one scene, a mother in a camp for the displaced asks Carter about her child, one among the many beset by hunger, disease and violence.
to the situation that U.N. Secretary General Koffi Annan called "little short of hell on earth," with a deadline at hand for a peace accord between Sudan's government and Darfur rebels.
What's helped news cameras swing toward the despairing African region is the magnetic force of celebrity. After a trip to Africa, actor-activist George Clooney ("Syriana" and formerly "ER") was welcomed on TV news outlets, including CNN and ABC, to discuss what he had seen.
had seen In Washington on Sunday,
In Washington, Clooney was among the celebrities who joined politicians, religious leaders and others to highlight the conflict and urge greater U.S. involvement. President Bush gave his support to that and other weekend rallies, saying, "The genocide
Coverage of Darfur has been dwindling: It was 18 minutes in 2005 and 26 minutes the year before, according to Andrew Tyndall, who publishes a weekly newsletter on the content of network newscasts.
"Darfur is a glaring example of a situation in the world that people don't know enough about, that they need to know more about and hopefully, help start to find solutions."
torgeson suggested the "ER" episode could increase public awareness of Darfur and encourage viewers to "want to learn more, and perhaps do something about it."
something the episode was filmed primarily in the South African desert and cost some $7 million — more than triple the usual
David Zabel "ER" executive producer
One of the groups that helped "ER" with the Darfur research used in writing the script, Doctors Without Borders, lauded the episode.
the episode.
"There is so little space on regular network news for coverage of under-reported humanitarian stories that it's really great when a popular TV show like 'ER' can put resources into trying to show the challenges of a situation like we're seeing in Darfur," said Kris Torgeson, spokeswoman for Doctors Without Borders.
in Sudan is unacceptable."
Work on the Darfur story, which was introduced in previous episodes and culminates Thursday, began eight months ago. It's an extension of the show's previous attention to Africa in an arc that brought Dr. Carter to Africa to fight AIDS.
cost for a one-hour drama.
It's the result of the clout "ER"
chief John Wells has gained from the long-running show and the other NBC series he produced,
"The West Wing" and "Third Watch."
sometimes we'll do just what we think is the best way to use the platform that we have and not necessarily pander to what we think people want to see or what's the most popular thing to do," said Zabel.
Wells "is very bold in the sense that
That said, Zabel understands that viewers tune in for entertainment, not education.
"That's why we tried to search for a way to find some hope and promise of a better future in a situation as desperate and sad as what's happening in Darfur," he said.
Among the characters in the episode: a young couple battered by the conflict but laying claim to the future with the baby she's carrying.
"Hopefully, viewers find some uplift and inspiration in a story that's very grave," Zabel said.