Hmm... ok, I can see why arguing for a death sentence on the grounds of triple rape and homicide with a fork may be persuasive, even if not valid, but for simply transmitting information... I don't know...

There is something deeply wrong with that society.

Ex-Analyst Guilty of Attempted Spying for Iraq
Thu February 20, 2003 06:47 PM ET
By Deborah Charles

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - A former U.S. intelligence analyst was found guilty on Thursday of attempting to spy for Iraq and China and could face the death penalty for trying to sell top-secret defense information to Iraq.

A 12-person federal jury found Brian Regan, 40, guilty of two counts of attempted espionage and one count of gathering national defense information but not guilty of attempting to spy for Libya.

The former U.S. Air Force analyst, who had pleaded not guilty to all four counts, sat stony-faced and stared straight ahead when the verdicts were read.

The jury, which delivered the partial verdict after deliberating for four days, is still trying to decide if the crime of attempted espionage for Iraq is serious enough to result in a death sentence.

They did not reach a decision on Thursday and will return on Monday morning to deliberate on whether the information Regan tried to provide Iraq included specific secrets.

If the jury decides "yes," Regan would be eligible for the death sentence and a new phase of the trial will begin to determine if he will be executed.

If sentenced to death, Regan would become the first person in the United States to be executed for espionage in 50 years.