Posted on 11/14/2003 6:46:04 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Deliberations Begin in Muhammad Trial
.c The Associated Press
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Jurors began deciding Friday whether sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad shaped his teenage protege into an expert killer or if there isn't enough evidence to prove he directed the Washington area sniper spree last fall.
The panel of seven women and five men filed out of the courtroom at 9:05 a.m. to begin deliberations in Muhammad's capital murder trial.
``The case is now in your hands,'' Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette told the jury.
With no direct evidence that Muhammad ever fired a shot in last fall's sniper spree, jurors faced one crucial question: Was he the mastermind who holds ultimate responsibility?
Prosecutor Richard Conway said during closing arguments Thursday that Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo formed ``a sniper-spotter killing team'' with Muhammad as the ``captain.'' The defense argued that jurors have been ``pounded'' with emotional testimony that clouds the facts.
Muhammad, 42, is accused of killing Dean Harold Meyers on Oct. 9, 2002 at a Manassas gas station. Like Malvo, he is charged with two counts of capital murder, one accusing them of taking part in multiple murders, the other alleging the killings were designed to terrorize the population.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors have portrayed Muhammad as a father figure to the younger Malvo, a stern and controlling man who trained the teenager to do his bidding.
They presented no direct evidence that Muhammad fired the Bushmaster used in the crime, but say it doesn't matter. Malvo was so deeply under Muhammad's sway, they argued, that both share guilt.
``That is a young man he molded and made an instrument of death and destruction,'' lead prosecutor Paul Ebert said in closing arguments.
Malvo, now 18, is on trial just 15 miles away in Chesapeake for the Oct. 14 shooting of Linda Franklin at a Home Depot in Falls Church. He also faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
In his opening statement Thursday, Malvo lawyer Craig Cooley said Muhammad turned Malvo into a ``child soldier,'' brainwashing him into thinking the killings were ``designed to achieve a greater good of a fairer and righteous society.''
Malvo's attorneys argue that Malvo was insane at the time of the shooting because he was indoctrinated by Muhammad. Cooley said Muhammad was seeking revenge against his ex-wife, Mildred, who had custody of their three children. He suggested Mildred Muhammad was to have been one of the shooting victims and that her death would have allowed Muhammad to carry out his plan.
``Had Mildred been No. 14 or No. 15 or No. 16, they wouldn't be looking for anybody else who had a grudge against her,'' Cooley said.
Cooley said that once Muhammad regained custody of his children, he would have taken them and Malvo to Canada and formed a Utopia. Before they could do that, though, they needed to take action to ``make America wake up,'' Cooley said.
Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Horan said he planned to start his case with the Franklin and Meyers shootings when Malvo's trial, off Friday, reconvenes Monday.
The two slayings were part of a string of shootings that killed 10 people over a three-week period in October 2002 in the Washington metropolitan area. Prosecutors said the spree was an attempt to extort $10 million from the government.
Jurors in Muhammad's case have to decide if he is a ``principal in the first degree'' to convict him under a multiple-murder charge.
Muhammad, who began the trial as his own lawyer before handing the case back to his attorneys, sat stoically at the defense table as prosecutors wrapped up their case.
Jabbing a finger at Muhammad, Ebert said Muhammad came off as a polite man, but that his calm demeanor masked a calculating and sinister side.
``He's the kind of man who could pat you on the back and cut your throat. That is the kind of man who can kill time and time again,'' Ebert said.
But in closing arguments, Muhammad attorney Peter Greenspun said prosecutors had ``pounded'' jurors with gory photos and emotional witness testimony during the trial to convince them to make an emotional decision.
He urged the jury to look at the evidence, which he said doesn't prove Muhammad directed the shootings or fired the gun in the Meyers murder. Greenspun tried to cast doubt on several witnesses, questioning their credibility.
Greenspun also said prosecutors have not made a strong case that Muhammad had enough control over Malvo that the teen would kill on his orders.
An expert federal witness in Muhammad's trial also came under scrutiny Thursday. FBI and Justice Department documents obtained by The Associated Press showed a government chemist who testified for the prosecution has made numerous racial remarks and has an office so sloppy it has raised concerns of contaminated evidence.
The documents detail testimony from colleagues and supervisors that Edward Bender made racist comments that led at least one colleague to worry about his impartiality in cases. The prosecutor said he wasn't told by the government of the information, and defense lawyers declined comment.
I find this to be a far-fetched theory by the prosecution. Is there any evidence to support this speculation?
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