Convicted Sniper Muhammad Sentenced to Death
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press
MANASSAS, Va. (March 9) - A judge rejected John Allen Muhammad's insistence of innocence and sentenced him to death Tuesday, saying his actions in the Washington-area sniper shootings were ''so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension.''
Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. also turned aside a plea from Muhammad's lawyers to spare their client's life. He ordered that Muhammad be executed on Oct. 14, but that date likely will be postponed to allow appeals.
"I had nothing to do with this," convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad told the judge at sentencing.
Muhammad, 43, was convicted of capital murder on Nov. 17 and a jury recommended he be sentenced to death for the Oct. 9, 2002, murder of Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station near Manassas. His teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, is to be formally sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
Muhammad denied any involvement in the killings Tuesday, telling the judge, ''Don't make a fool of the Constitution of the United States of America.''
''Just like I said at the beginning, I had nothing to do with this, and I'll say again, I had nothing to do with this,'' Muhammad said.
But Millette said the jury's sentence was supported by law and that ''these offenses are so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension.''
Larry Meyers, older brother of the victim, testified Tuesday that ''Dean meant so much to each and every one of us. I'd prefer to remember the good times.''
Defense lawyer Peter Greenspun said Muhammad is not inherently evil.
''I've represented a lot of bad guys,'' Greenspun said. ''I've represented guys that you look them in the eye and see evil. I've spent a lot of time with John Allen Muhammad and that's not him.''
Defense lawyers had filed a motion Monday arguing that life in prison was the more appropriate sentence to eliminate the disparity between Muhammad's punishment and that of Malvo, 18.
Malvo, who was tried separately in Chesapeake, was given life in prison by the jury in the Oct. 14, 2002, slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Falls Church, Va., Home Depot store.
Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush has no leeway Wednesday to alter Malvo's sentence. In Virginia, judges can accept a jury's sentence recommendation or reduce it, but cannot increase it.
Earlier Tuesday, Millette had rejected a defense request for a new trial for Muhammad. Defense attorneys based their motion on letters that Malvo, wrote to another inmate in the Farifax County jail.
Defense lawyers said they were unaware of the letters before trial and said they show Malvo acted and thought independently and was not under the sway of Muhammad.
Prosecutors said the letters added nothing to the case, and Millette agreed.
Muhammad's lawyers have raised several issues that will likely be primary points of appeal. First, they argue that under Virginia law only the triggerman in a shooting death can be eligible for the death penalty. The six-week trial never conclusively determined who was the triggerman in the killings, and much of the evidence suggests Malvo was the shooter.
But Millette sided with prosecutors who argued that the triggerman issue is irrelevant, and that Virginia law allows a death penalty in cases in which a defendant can be shown to be ''the instigator and moving spirit'' of a killing.
The defense team also argues that a second capital conviction based on a new antiterrorism law is both unconstitutional and improperly applied to Muhammad. The Virginia legislature passed the law after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, envisioning al-Qaida-style terrorism.
The law defines terrorism as a crime committed with ''the intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence the policy, conduct or activities of the government ... through intimidation or coercion.''
Prosecutors said the circumstances of the October 2002 sniper spree fit that definition of terrorism like a glove. Muhammad and Malvo demanded a $10 million payment from the government to stop the shootings and left notes at shooting scenes promising ''more body bags'' if their demands weren't met.
Authorities in Montgomery, Ala., have expressed interest in trying both Muhammad and Malvo in a killing there a few days before the D.C.-area spree began. The two have been charged with capital murder in the Sept. 21, 2002, shooting outside a liquor store that killed manager Claudine Parker and critically injured co-worker Kellie Adams.
The final decision on extradition rests with Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. His spokesman, Kevin Hall, has said any decision on extradition will not be made until after the sentencings in Virginia.
03-09-04 1223EST
