Lee Boyd Malvo, the teenager who teamed up with John Allen Muhammad to terrorize the Washington area in a sniper spree that left 10 people dead in 2002, was formally sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Malvo, 19, was sentenced Wednesday after Muhammad was given the death penalty by a judge in Prince William County a day earlier. The judge in Muhammad's case could have reduced the sentence to life in prison, but Malvo's judge had no other option than life without parole, which the jury recommended.
Malvo, wearing a gray sweater, light blue shirt and dark trousers, did not speak during the 10-minute hearing, following the advice of his lawyers, who did not want his words used against him in future prosecutions.
PHOTO: AFP
Malvo was convicted of capital murder in the Oct. 14, 2002, killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a store in Virginia, when he was 17 years old. Muhammad was convicted in the Oct. 9, 2002, killing of Dean Harold Meyers outside a Virginia gas station.
Prosecutor Paul Ebert, who led the case against Muhammad and is next in line to try Malvo for Meyers' killing, said he would wait until the US Supreme Court rules on whether juveniles may be executed. A decision is expected next year.
"If the Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is still available to juveniles, I will try Mr. Malvo and very likely seek the death penalty," Ebert said. He added that a trial would not take place until next year, at the earliest.
Robert Horan, who led the prosecution of Malvo, said after sentencing that he plans to try Muhammad in the killing of Franklin. He said the trial could take place by the end of the summer.
Muhammad's attorneys are appealing his conviction, and Horan said another conviction would serve as a backup if the first one is reversed.
Malvo's attorneys argued during the trial that the teenager was legally insane because he was brainwashed by Muhammad, whom he considered his father. Jurors have said that while they did not believe Malvo was insane, they thought Muhammad had influenced him.
Defense lawyer Craig Cooley reiterated Wednesday that Muhammad was an influence.
"We do not believe anyone could have observed the evidence ... and believed Lee Malvo would be here except for the influence of John Muhammad," Cooley said.
Malvo attorney Michael Arif said after the hearing that the teenager is still in the process of realizing what he has done.
"He's cried on occasion, but hasn't yet come to appreciate the entirety of what has happened to the victims," Arif said.
Prosecutors in other states, including Alabama and Louisiana, are seeking Malvo's extradition to face potential death-penalty charges for killings there.
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