A US-trained Pakistani scientist was portrayed at her attempted murder trial as both a would-be terrorist determined to kill Americans and a fearful woman framed by the government.
Assistant US Attorney Christopher La Vigne told the Manhattan jury yesterday that Aafia Siddiqui, 37, had bomb-making instructions, documents referencing a "mass casualty attack" and a list of New York City landmarks including the Statue of Liberty when she was detained in Afghanistan in 2008.
Siddiqui was carrying "a road map for destruction - documents about attacking the US," he told the court.
During the two-week trial, FBI agents and US soldiers said that when they went to interrogate Siddiqui at an Afghan police station, she snatched an unattended assault rifle and shot at them, yelling: "Death to Americans."
She was wounded by return fire but recovered and was brought to the US to face charges.
Mr La Vigne, sometimes holding up the US military-issued M4 rifle, argued that to acquit Siddiqui jurors would have to conclude the government witnesses "lied to your face".
Although Siddiqui was not charged with terrorism, authorities have portrayed her as a combative al Qaida sympathiser who hated the US.
"She saw a chance to kill Americans and took it," the prosecutor said. "Now you have the chance to hold the defendant responsible for what she did."
Siddiqui, a frail-looking neuroscience specialist who trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, has vehemently denied the charges in a series of courtroom tirades.
She said last week that she had been held in a "secret prison" before her capture. She claimed she feared being sent back and was shot while trying to escape.
"This is crazy," she said about the accusations. "It's just ridiculous. ... I never attempted murder, no way. It's a heavy word."
But yesterday the prosecutor called her a liar.
Siddiqui "is no shrinking violet", he said. "She does what she wants when she wants it. These charges are no joke. People almost died."
In her closing argument, defence lawyer Linda Moreno accused prosecutors of trying to play on the jury's fears.
"They want to scare you into convicting Aafia Siddiqui," she said. "The defence trusts that you're much smarter than that."
She said there was no ballistic, fingerprint or other physical evidence proving the weapon was "touched by Dr Siddiqui, let alone fired by her".
The government had introduced photos of holes in a wall to suggest they were made by Siddiqui's gunfire. The defence showed an Afghan-made video clip of her in the same room the day before the shooting, when the holes were already there.
The judge has allowed Siddiqui to decide each day whether she wants to attend the trial. She was absent yesterday.
The jury deliberated briefly before going home for the day and will resume its deliberations today.