NcDeuce
11-24-2003, 12:27 PM
Jurors recommend death for Muhammad
Monday, November 24, 2003 Posted: 11:47 AM EST (1647 GMT)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (CNN) -- Jurors on Monday recommended John Allen Muhammad be sentenced to death for orchestrating last year's sniper shootings in the Washington area.
Jurors recommended death for two of the four counts Muhammad was convicted of last week in last year's shooting death of Dean Harold Meyers: terrorism and capital murder.
Muhammad also received a 10-year sentence recommendation for conspiracy and a three-year sentence recommendation for use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Muhammad showed no sign of emotion as the decisions were read about 10:50 a.m. Monday, less than two hours after jurors reconvened for a second day of deliberations. They had deliberated for about four hours Friday.
Judge LeRoy Millette set a formal sentencing date of February 12. Under Virginia law, Millette has the final word and can reduce the jury's recommended sentence.
Last week the same jury convicted the 42-year-old Muhammad of the October 9, 2002, killing of Meyers outside a Manassas, Virginia, service station. Meyers was one of 10 people killed in the October 2002 sniper killings. Three people were wounded but survived the attacks.
After the verdict, prosecutor Paul Ebert endorsed the jury's recommendation.
"The death penalty is reserved of the worst of the worst, and we think Mr. Muhammad fell into that category," Ebert said.
Muhammad becomes the first person ever charged and sentenced under Virginia's new post-September 11, 2001 terrorism law, outlawing attempts to intimidate the civilian population at large, or to influence the conduct or activities of the government of the United States, a state or locality through intimidation.
Prosecutors argued for death
The decision caps a six-week trial that began with Muhammad attempting to represent himself. He abandoned that attempt after two days of proceedings.
Prosecutors argued that Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo -- Muhammad's alleged accomplice currently on trial in nearby Chesapeake -- acted as a team, with Malvo as the trigger man in most of last year's sniper shootings.
Millette can reduce the recommended sentence but not increase it.
Prosecutors argued that Muhammad qualified for the death penalty because he posed a continuing threat to society and his conduct -- actions they said could be considered vile, horrible or inhuman -- reflected "depravity of mind."
"One thing's for sure, they took pleasure in terrorizing people," Ebert said. "They took pleasure in killing people. That's the kind of man that doesn't need to be in society."
To bolster the prosecution's case, Muhammad's ex-wife testified that Muhammad threatened to "destroy" her after their marriage collapsed in 1999, and an inmate at the Virginia jail where Muhammad was held to await trial described what prosecutors considered an escape attempt earlier this year.
No testimony indicated that Muhammad pulled the trigger in the sniper killings, but prosecutors argued that Muhammad and Malvo acted as a team in the attacks.
Other testimony linked Muhammad to killings in Alabama, Louisiana and Washington state.
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/LAW/11/24/sprj.dcsp.muhammad.trial/story.muhammad.monday.ap.jpg
John Allen Muhammad, look at his face...he's not the big, bad sniper anymore, POS.
Condemned prisoners in Virginia have the choice of dying by lethal injection or in the electric chair.
Virginia has executed 89 convicts since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Condemned prisoners in Virginia have the choice of dying by lethal injection or in the electric chair.
Justice has been served. It will be a great day when this man fries in Hell.
Monday, November 24, 2003 Posted: 11:47 AM EST (1647 GMT)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (CNN) -- Jurors on Monday recommended John Allen Muhammad be sentenced to death for orchestrating last year's sniper shootings in the Washington area.
Jurors recommended death for two of the four counts Muhammad was convicted of last week in last year's shooting death of Dean Harold Meyers: terrorism and capital murder.
Muhammad also received a 10-year sentence recommendation for conspiracy and a three-year sentence recommendation for use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Muhammad showed no sign of emotion as the decisions were read about 10:50 a.m. Monday, less than two hours after jurors reconvened for a second day of deliberations. They had deliberated for about four hours Friday.
Judge LeRoy Millette set a formal sentencing date of February 12. Under Virginia law, Millette has the final word and can reduce the jury's recommended sentence.
Last week the same jury convicted the 42-year-old Muhammad of the October 9, 2002, killing of Meyers outside a Manassas, Virginia, service station. Meyers was one of 10 people killed in the October 2002 sniper killings. Three people were wounded but survived the attacks.
After the verdict, prosecutor Paul Ebert endorsed the jury's recommendation.
"The death penalty is reserved of the worst of the worst, and we think Mr. Muhammad fell into that category," Ebert said.
Muhammad becomes the first person ever charged and sentenced under Virginia's new post-September 11, 2001 terrorism law, outlawing attempts to intimidate the civilian population at large, or to influence the conduct or activities of the government of the United States, a state or locality through intimidation.
Prosecutors argued for death
The decision caps a six-week trial that began with Muhammad attempting to represent himself. He abandoned that attempt after two days of proceedings.
Prosecutors argued that Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo -- Muhammad's alleged accomplice currently on trial in nearby Chesapeake -- acted as a team, with Malvo as the trigger man in most of last year's sniper shootings.
Millette can reduce the recommended sentence but not increase it.
Prosecutors argued that Muhammad qualified for the death penalty because he posed a continuing threat to society and his conduct -- actions they said could be considered vile, horrible or inhuman -- reflected "depravity of mind."
"One thing's for sure, they took pleasure in terrorizing people," Ebert said. "They took pleasure in killing people. That's the kind of man that doesn't need to be in society."
To bolster the prosecution's case, Muhammad's ex-wife testified that Muhammad threatened to "destroy" her after their marriage collapsed in 1999, and an inmate at the Virginia jail where Muhammad was held to await trial described what prosecutors considered an escape attempt earlier this year.
No testimony indicated that Muhammad pulled the trigger in the sniper killings, but prosecutors argued that Muhammad and Malvo acted as a team in the attacks.
Other testimony linked Muhammad to killings in Alabama, Louisiana and Washington state.
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/LAW/11/24/sprj.dcsp.muhammad.trial/story.muhammad.monday.ap.jpg
John Allen Muhammad, look at his face...he's not the big, bad sniper anymore, POS.
Condemned prisoners in Virginia have the choice of dying by lethal injection or in the electric chair.
Virginia has executed 89 convicts since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Condemned prisoners in Virginia have the choice of dying by lethal injection or in the electric chair.
Justice has been served. It will be a great day when this man fries in Hell.