Gość: Józef Zawadzki
IP: 64.161.246.*
25.11.03, 00:36
Snajper z Wirginii który w zeszłym roku zastrzeli 10 niewinnych osób został
skazany na śmierć.
To był jedyny wyrok godny tego bydlaka.
Świat powinien brać przykład z USA.
Jury Decides on Death for Sniper Muhammad
Mon Nov 24, 2:17 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Deborah Zabarenko
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (Reuters) - The jury that convicted Washington-area
sniper John Muhammad of murder recommended on Monday he be sentenced to death
for one of 10 fatal shootings that terrorized the U.S. capital last year.
Reuters Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow: Sniper Case
Malvo Pleads Not Guilty in Sniper Trial
(AP Video)
Muhammad stood impassively in front of the jury as the ruling was read out,
his hands clasped in front of him. He later shook hands with his attorneys
before being led away.
The panel of seven women and five men recommended two death sentences for
Muhammad, who was portrayed in court as the mastermind behind a series of 13
sniper-style shootings, and the trainer of his alleged teen-age accomplice,
Lee Malvo.
Judge LeRoy Millette tentatively set formal sentencing for Feb. 12 to allow
time for any post-trial motions.
Malvo's lawyers have followed Muhammad's case closely, on the theory that the
prosecution picture of Muhammad as a manipulative orchestrator of murder
could help their insanity defense. They maintain Muhammad brainwashed Malvo
into participating in the sniper shootings.
Muhammad's case was a victory of sorts for U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft (news - web sites), who decided that Muhammad and Malvo should be
tried first in Virginia because of its assertive death penalty laws, despite
killings in Maryland and Washington, D.C., that have been linked to the pair.
Muhammad, a 42-year-old Gulf War (news - web sites) veteran, was found guilty
on Nov. 17 of two murder counts, conspiracy and a weapons charge in the death
of Dean Meyers, a Maryland man gunned down at a gas station on Oct. 9, 2002,
near Manassas, Virginia.
Virginia law allows two capital murder charges in the case of a single death
and Muhammad was convicted of two such death-penalty charges. One involved
the question of multiple murders, in which Muhammad was found guilty of
killing Meyers within three years of committing another slaying.
The other involved committing murder as an act of terrorism, part of
Virginia's anti-terrorism law, enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijack
attacks.
In finding that he deserved the death penalty, jurors agreed that his crimes
were sufficiently vile that they showed the actions of a depraved mind, and
they also unanimously found he would be a future danger to society if not put
to death.
"VILENESS AND VIOLENCE"
Jury foreman Jerry Haggerty said the panel was most swayed by "the collective
nature of the crimes."
"The vileness and violence was there across the board, and the lack of
remorse," Haggerty told reporters after court recessed.
Prosecutor Paul Ebert said he considered the jury's death penalty decision a
victory, but stopped short at guessing at Muhammad's motive for the killings.
"One thing's for sure, they took pleasure in terrorizing people, they took
pleasure in killing people and that's the kind of man who doesn't deserve to
be in society," Ebert said.
The jury's findings came as prosecutors in Malvo's trial were set to wrap up
their case in nearby Chesapeake, Virginia, where he is being tried as an
adult in a separate murder stemming from the October 2002 spree.
Muhammad and Malvo each were charged with one murder in the series of 10
seemingly random sniper-style killings that spread fear in the Washington
area.
Attorneys for Malvo, who was 17 when the crimes were committed, plan to argue
the teen-ager was brainwashed by Muhammad. He also faces a possible death
sentence.
Defense attorney Craig Cooley has argued that after Muhammad met Malvo in
Antigua in 2000, the older man created prime brainwashing conditions, keeping
the frail, attention-starved youth by his side as they lived in cars and
shelters. He schooled Malvo in a worldview that included hostility toward
government and an appreciation for military skills, Cooley said.
Both trials were moved 200 miles from the Washington area to southeastern
Virginia in search of unbiased juries.
