Courts refuse to block D.C. sniper execution
Leroy N. Soetoro
cution-court_N.htm
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block Tuesday's scheduled
execution of convicted sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad. Muhammad
is scheduled to die by injection at a Virginia prison for the slaying of
Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during a three-week spree in October
2002 across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
KILLINGS UNSOLVED: Washington sniper execution nears
Three of the justices wrote a separate statement, not dissenting, but
raising concerns about how the state case arrived at the court's
doorstep in an emergency fashion before the Court had fully reviewed any
constitutional challenge by Muhammad to his case.
Justices Stevens, joined by Ginsburg and Sotomayor, wrote, "By denying
Muhammad's stay application, we have allowed Virginia to truncate our
deliberative process on a matter � involving a death row inmate � that
demands the most careful attention. This result is particularly
unfortunate in light of the limited time Muhammad was given to make his
case in the district court."
The statement continued, "I do not dissent from the Court's decision to
deny certiorari. I do, however, remain firmly convinced that no state
should be allowed to foreshorten this Court's orderly review of ...
first-time habeas petitions by executing prisoners before that review
can be completed."
Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, also were suspected
of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and
Arizona. Malvo is serving a life sentence in prison.
Muhammad still has a clemency petition before Virginia Gov. Timothy M.
Kaine.
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Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
Rangel's tax evasion.