Jury spares Malvo's life in Washington sniper case
CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (CNN) -- A Virginia jury Tuesday decided Lee Boyd Malvo should be sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the Washington-area sniper killings, rejecting prosecutors' call for his execution.
The verdict followed about nine hours of deliberation over two days. Judge Jane Marum Roush set formal sentencing for March 10.
Jurors also called for Malvo to be fined $100,000 on the each of the two capital counts against him.
The Associated Press reported that Malvo, wearing a blue sweater that made him look like a schoolboy, sat expressionless, with his elbows on the defense table.
The jury took 81/2 hours over two days to decide his fate.
The deliberations began after prosecutors on Monday urged jurors to opt for a death sentence for Malvo, saying he has failed to show "an ounce of remorse" for the "outrageous" October 2002 killing spree.
Earlier this week, defense attorneys pleaded for the eight-woman, four-man jury to have mercy on their client, who was 17 during last year's sniper attacks.
Malvo was found guilty last week of terrorism, capital murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in the killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin on October 14, 2002, during a three-week series of sniper attacks in the Washington area that killed 10 people and wounded three. (Full story)
The state law concerning terrorism was passed after September 11. Both counts could have brought the death penalty.
Virginia law requires a jury to find at least one "aggravating factor" to impose a death sentence. Prosecutors argued there were two: that Malvo poses a future danger and that his crimes were "outrageously or wantonly vile."
During closing arguments of the penalty phase, Malvo's lawyers argued that he was brainwashed by convicted accomplice John Allen Muhammad.
"Lee was uniquely susceptible to becoming attached to a father figure and the charismatic personage of John Muhammad," defense attorney Craig Cooley said.
Prosecutor James Horan, however, contrasted excerpts from Malvo's statement to police after his arrest with crime-scene photos of his victims, disputing defense contentions that the teenager had felt remorse for the killings.
"Is the behavior of this defendant so outrageous that the penalty of death is called for? Is the behavior so outrageous?" Horan asked. "We submit, based on the evidence that is already before you, that the penalty of death is the appropriate verdict at this stage."
Horan played Malvo's taped confession, which he mimicked the sound of sniper victim James "Sonny" Buchanan's lawn mover and admitting he killed Pascal Charlot, a 72-year-old Washington man shot while crossing a street. He noted that shortly before his murder, Buchanan had spent hours on a porch, rocking in a chair while talking to his mother.
"That mother now sits in one of those rocking chairs waiting for a son who will never come home," he said. "That's vileness -- the uncaring attitude not only of those you killed but what you took away from others."
Muhammad, 42, who was found guilty last month in the sniper killings and faces a February sentencing date after a jury decided he should be executed. (Full story)
Defense attorneys say Malvo was separated from his father as a young child and attended 10 schools as he was uprooted repeatedly by his mother during their life in the Caribbean islands, leaving him vulnerable to Muhammad's influence.
Cooley said friends all described Muhammad as "a pied piper for children."
In rebuttal to prosecutors, Malvo's attorneys called on the jury to reject "the voices of vengeance and retribution.
"We are about to entrust the life of this child to you," defense attorney Cooley said. "In a very real sense, you are the last in a very long line of caretakers. Exercise your compassion."
Earlier Monday, Malvo's father, Leslie Malvo, described how his son wanted to be a pilot and loved to wear an aviator's jacket his father bought for him. But Judge Roush urged defense lawyers to limit his testimony, since he had already taken the stand once during the five-week trial.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/23/sp...ial/index.html
CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (CNN) -- A Virginia jury Tuesday decided Lee Boyd Malvo should be sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the Washington-area sniper killings, rejecting prosecutors' call for his execution.
The verdict followed about nine hours of deliberation over two days. Judge Jane Marum Roush set formal sentencing for March 10.
Jurors also called for Malvo to be fined $100,000 on the each of the two capital counts against him.
The Associated Press reported that Malvo, wearing a blue sweater that made him look like a schoolboy, sat expressionless, with his elbows on the defense table.
The jury took 81/2 hours over two days to decide his fate.
The deliberations began after prosecutors on Monday urged jurors to opt for a death sentence for Malvo, saying he has failed to show "an ounce of remorse" for the "outrageous" October 2002 killing spree.
Earlier this week, defense attorneys pleaded for the eight-woman, four-man jury to have mercy on their client, who was 17 during last year's sniper attacks.
Malvo was found guilty last week of terrorism, capital murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in the killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin on October 14, 2002, during a three-week series of sniper attacks in the Washington area that killed 10 people and wounded three. (Full story)
The state law concerning terrorism was passed after September 11. Both counts could have brought the death penalty.
Virginia law requires a jury to find at least one "aggravating factor" to impose a death sentence. Prosecutors argued there were two: that Malvo poses a future danger and that his crimes were "outrageously or wantonly vile."
During closing arguments of the penalty phase, Malvo's lawyers argued that he was brainwashed by convicted accomplice John Allen Muhammad.
"Lee was uniquely susceptible to becoming attached to a father figure and the charismatic personage of John Muhammad," defense attorney Craig Cooley said.
Prosecutor James Horan, however, contrasted excerpts from Malvo's statement to police after his arrest with crime-scene photos of his victims, disputing defense contentions that the teenager had felt remorse for the killings.
"Is the behavior of this defendant so outrageous that the penalty of death is called for? Is the behavior so outrageous?" Horan asked. "We submit, based on the evidence that is already before you, that the penalty of death is the appropriate verdict at this stage."
Horan played Malvo's taped confession, which he mimicked the sound of sniper victim James "Sonny" Buchanan's lawn mover and admitting he killed Pascal Charlot, a 72-year-old Washington man shot while crossing a street. He noted that shortly before his murder, Buchanan had spent hours on a porch, rocking in a chair while talking to his mother.
"That mother now sits in one of those rocking chairs waiting for a son who will never come home," he said. "That's vileness -- the uncaring attitude not only of those you killed but what you took away from others."
Muhammad, 42, who was found guilty last month in the sniper killings and faces a February sentencing date after a jury decided he should be executed. (Full story)
Defense attorneys say Malvo was separated from his father as a young child and attended 10 schools as he was uprooted repeatedly by his mother during their life in the Caribbean islands, leaving him vulnerable to Muhammad's influence.
Cooley said friends all described Muhammad as "a pied piper for children."
In rebuttal to prosecutors, Malvo's attorneys called on the jury to reject "the voices of vengeance and retribution.
"We are about to entrust the life of this child to you," defense attorney Cooley said. "In a very real sense, you are the last in a very long line of caretakers. Exercise your compassion."
Earlier Monday, Malvo's father, Leslie Malvo, described how his son wanted to be a pilot and loved to wear an aviator's jacket his father bought for him. But Judge Roush urged defense lawyers to limit his testimony, since he had already taken the stand once during the five-week trial.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/23/sp...ial/index.html
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