Zacarias Moussaoui's lawyer pleaded with jurors today to send his client to prison for life - "the long slow death of a common criminal"- rather than give him the martyrdom he seeks through execution.
The prosecution argued for a death sentence for the September 11th conspirator because "there is no place on this good Earth" for him.
Both sides gave their final points before deliberations were to begin by a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, that has already decided that the only person charged in the US in the September 11th, 2001, attacks was responsible for at least one death on that day.
The question to be decided now: Should Moussaoui, 37, die for the crime or spend life in prison? The judge will be bound to hand down the sentence chosen by the jury.
The unrepentant conspirator, who never co-operated with his lawyers, said during a recess after defence arguments: "Our children will carry on the fight."
Prosecutor David Raskin urged the jurors to reject defence arguments that Moussaoui is mentally ill and to brush off any hesitation that they would be giving him what he wants by deciding on execution.
"He wants you to think Osama bin Laden will be mad at us," Raskin said. "Do you think Osama bin Laden gives a damn about what happens here? ... That is a joke."
Raskin said: "It is time to put an end to all this. It is time to put an end to his hatred and venom."
The prosecutor pointed out how Moussaoui mocked the testimony of September 11 victims and their families throughout the trial. "The defendant rejoices in all that pain," he said. "He told you that himself."
Raskin went on: "He loved it because he was responsible for it. He loved it because it meant to him, 'Mission accomplished."'
Defence lawyer Gerald Zerkin said Moussaoui's contempt for the victims and the trial "is proof that he wants you to sentence him to death. He is baiting you into it. He came to America to die in jihad and you are his last chance."