life without parole.

for some reason I am relieved...thanks for the info

They should have fried his ass.

butterfli25 said:

not me. i find it disturbing. if there were ever 2 people that the death penalty was justifiably created for, it's these 2.

AaronAlmighty said:

With you 1000%

CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (CNN) -- A Virginia jury spared Lee Boyd Malvo from the death penalty Tuesday in the Washington sniper case after his lawyers argued that he was an impressionable teenager who had fallen under the malevolent influence of John Allen Muhammad.

Malvo will instead be locked away for the rest of his life.

The jury spared Malvo's life, in recommending a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Another Virginia jury had already recommended a death sentence for the first man convicted in last year's Washington-area sniper attacks, John Muhammad.

Jurors weighed whether to recommend sentencing Malvo to death or to life in prison without a chance of parole. Judge Jane Marum Roush set a March 10 hearing date to affirm the jury's recommendation.

Jurors began deliberating on a sentence recommendation Monday.

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)

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.

"The two of us would watch the planes coming down," he said in a report from The Associated Press. "Lee loved it very much."

Roush also refused to allow into evidence a letter Malvo's lawyers said was evidence of their client's remorse for the killings. His lawyers said the letter was written in May to Carmeta Albarus, who was hired to investigate Malvo's background.

"It was significant because in the 14 years I've done this and the 300 cases I've worked nationwide, I've never received a letter like that," Albarus said.

But Horan said the letter gives "no indication of remorse," and Roush ruled it inadmissible.

Albarus testified Monday that Malvo became emotional when she told him that she visited Maryland during October's sniper killings and could have been among the victims. She said she "did for Lee what I called the gas station jig" -- moving back and forth so as to avoid being shot.

"He looked up to me, and the realization hit him and the eyes again welled up with tears, and he just looked down and he was silent for a pretty long time," Albarus said.

CNN Correspondent Elaine Quijano and Producer Mike Ahlers contributed to this report.

All this "impressionable child" crap really ticks me off. At the age of 17 I knew wrong from right. His mom moving him around alot is hardly an excuse.

wrong forum!!






where them finger trigger happy mods at? two times..

JediMaster said:

That does not mean that every boy or girl of 17 knows what is right or wrong... unfortunately

(clarity edit)
[This message was edited Tue Dec 23 13:39:29 PST 2003 by roverlo]

roverlo said:

I find it unlikely that they don't at that age, and IF they don't then they doubtfully ever will. Just my opinion.

sosgemini said:

there is no "news" forum.

JediMaster said:

that is why he was sentenced for life...

Maybe so. I just think its BS.

I'm a little torn on this one...

On the one hand, while I'm generally against the death penalty in practice (not theory... but better saved for another thread), I'm inclined to feel these guys deserve not to just fry, but slowly roast over an open fire.

Where Malvo is regarded, though, what's the use of separating juvenile justice from adult justice if the line can be so frequently breached in the courtroom?
[This message was edited Tue Dec 23 14:40:25 PST 2003 by Lammastide]

I think thats a good sentence...

I heard on the news that one of the jurors was considering death as the sentence, and then decided Malvo wanted to be a martyr, and so the juror voted for life, so that Malvo would not have the satisfaction of being put to death.

The death penalty is wrong, and Malvo is mentally ill. Not, fully his fault.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

yeah assholes like malvo and muhammid deserve to die

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Me too...then, if possible, they should have harvested their organs.

AaronAlmighty said:

thats it??? I am amazed!!!

2freaky4church1 said:

maybe, maybe not, but he is accountable for 100% of the wrong that he did either way.