VA--DC sniper Muhammad's execution set for tomorrow
Kris Baker
Religion, paranoia, murder.....
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sniper9-2009nov09,0,3520756.story
D.C. sniper set to be executed Tuesday
His appeal to the Supreme Court says the case has moved too fast. If he had
been tried in Maryland -- where most of the murders took place -- instead of
Virginia, the outcome would have been different
By David G. Savage
November 9, 2009
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Reporting from Washington - Seven years ago this month, the captured Beltway
snipers -- John Allen Muhammad, then 41, and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo,
17 -- were in federal custody, accused of 16 shootings and 10 murders. They
had set out to create a reign of terror in the Washington area to match the
9/11 attacks of the year before.
U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft had a choice: He could send them to be tried
in Maryland, where most of the murders took place but where the death
penalty was on hold because of the specter of racial unfairness. Or he could
send them across the Potomac River to Virginia, the site of three of the
killings, where death sentences are carried out swiftly.
Ashcroft chose Virginia.
On Tuesday, Muhammad is scheduled to die by lethal injection in a Virginia
prison, his initial appeals having been dismissed by state and federal
judges.
"History has borne out the attorney general made the right call," said Mark
Corallo, who was Ashcroft's spokesman. "These crimes were so brutally
coldblooded and calculated."
Muhammad's new lawyers lodged a last set of emergency appeals with the
Supreme Court last week. Their main claim is that the case has moved too
quickly. They said judges in Virginia cut short the time for filing appeals
and refused to hold a single hearing after the trial.
Jonathan Sheldon, Muhammad's current lawyer, describes his client as
mentally ill.
"He is delusional, paranoid and incompetent. He was angry at the government
after he came back from the Gulf War. And he has delusions of racist
conspiracies," Sheldon said.
He faults Muhammad's trial lawyers for having described him as a "very
bright man" to the jury, and for not recounting his mental problems.
Sheldon said Muhammad called him a few days ago to say he should find
Muhammad's dentist to confirm that he was not in Washington at the time of
the crimes.
"He's in Nuremberg," Muhammad said, according to his lawyer's account. "In
Germany?" the lawyer asked.
"It's a week before his execution, and he thinks we should be looking for a
dentist in Germany," Sheldon said.
Meanwhile, prosecutors and families of the victims have said they are
comforted that Muhammad is facing the death penalty and that an execution is
on schedule.
Maryland Atty. Gen. Douglas F. Gansler agrees, though he objected to
Ashcroft's 2002 decision to move the case.
"It has worked out for the better. If you are going to have a death penalty,
John Muhammad -- just like Tim McVeigh -- is the poster boy for the death
penalty," said Gansler, referring to the Oklahoma City bomber who was
executed in 2001. At the time of the Washington shootings, Gansler was chief
prosecutor in Montgomery County, Md., where six of the murders occurred.
Besides the 10 killings in the Washington area, Muhammad and Malvo were
believed to have killed at least seven others in their cross-country
shooting spree.
It began on Sept. 5, 2002, when a restaurant owner in Clinton, Md., was shot
six times as he left his establishment. He survived, but a young thief,
apparently Malvo, stole $3,500 in cash from him. Ten days later, the owner
of a nearby liquor store was shot and robbed.
It was not until Oct. 3 that the shootings gripped the Washington area. At
8:15 a.m., a taxi driver was fatally shot while fueling his car. Fifteen
minutes later, a woman was fatally shot in the head while sitting on a bench
outside a restaurant. Less than two hours later, another woman was fatally
shot as she stood next to her car. And that evening, a man was shot on a
street in northwest Washington.
The shootings continued throughout the month. The FBI eventually used
fingerprints on ransom notes to trace Muhammad and Malvo back to Washington
state, where their shooting spree had begun. The bureau posted a public
alert for the old Chevy Caprice the two were driving. And they were arrested
while asleep at a rest stop along a highway in Maryland on Oct. 24, 2002.
The killing spree was over.
Malvo was convicted of the murders, but because of his young age, he was
sentenced to life in prison without parole.
--
"It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for
directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes
several million sperm cells . . . to locate a female egg,
despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the
size of Wisconsin."-- Dave Barry
Kris Baker
> Some striking similarities between the DC Sniper case, and the Ft Hood case.
> Religion, paranoia, murder.....
>
>
> D.C. sniper set to be executed Tuesday
> His appeal to the Supreme Court says the case has moved too fast. If he had
> been tried in Maryland -- where most of the murders took place -- instead of
> Virginia, the outcome would have been different
The Supreme Court just refused to intercede. Buh-bye, Muhammed.
Kris
Poe
Not sure how I feel about this if he was truly mentally ill. It sounds
like he was crazy as a bed-bug, but maybe his lawyers exaggerated it.
FERRANTE
death yet as a result of an execution. He deserves that and more.
I only wish that little monster that was with him was being killed
too.
Mark
Pneuma
wrote:
>Not sure how I feel about this if he was truly mentally ill. It sounds
>like he was crazy as a bed-bug, but maybe his lawyers exaggerated it.
It doesn't matter if he is mentally ill. The point is to rid society of
people that are a danger to it. Besides mentally ill can mean he is just
depressed about given the death sentence. It would not be unusual for any
one facing a death sentence to suddenly claim to hear voices or seeing
reindeer to get a liberal judge to halt an execution.
As long as the US is sentencing people to death for intentional murder I
don't see the problem with it.
Pneuma
--
Read the United States National Health Insurance Act
outline @ http://www.cprights.org/plan.php?plan=8
Total Estimated Cost: $1.8 Trillion/year
Pneuma
wrote:
No, Malvo was just a immature kid that was led astray by John Allen. He
doesn't deserve the death penalty. Life in prison is a fair sentence. If
it wasn't for JAM the kid would probably being working at McDonalds today.
Poe
> On Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:44:17 -0500, Poe <hau...@terrible-thought.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Not sure how I feel about this if he was truly mentally ill. It sounds
>> like he was crazy as a bed-bug, but maybe his lawyers exaggerated it.
>
> It doesn't matter if he is mentally ill. The point is to rid society of
> people that are a danger to it. Besides mentally ill can mean he is just
> depressed about given the death sentence. It would not be unusual for any
> one facing a death sentence to suddenly claim to hear voices or seeing
> reindeer to get a liberal judge to halt an execution.
> As long as the US is sentencing people to death for intentional murder I
> don't see the problem with it.
It's not at the top of my agenda to protest, he was a very bad guy who
instilled terror on many. I just felt a little conflicted when I read
about his supposed mental state, thinking about leading a babbling loon
who has no idea what's going into the death chamber on made my skin
crawl.
realpch
>
> In Message-ID:<7ltgkaF...@mid.individual.net> posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009
> 10:53:45 -0500, Poe wrote: Begin
>
> >I just felt a little conflicted when I read
> >about his supposed mental state, thinking about leading a babbling loon
> >who has no idea what's going into the death chamber on made my skin
> >crawl.
>
> such antisocial traits is best to have removed from society.
I'm ambivalent about the death penalty myself. When I read of a really
cruel crime, it's "Hang 'Em High!" But calmer reflection always reverts
in favor of just locking them up forever. I'm not sure how this would
work if a family member were killed.
Peach
--
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
Save some dough, save some grief:
http://www.xenu.net
http://www.scientology-lies.com
robbielynn
> In Message-ID:<7ltgkaF3ff2h...@mid.individual.net> posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009
>
> 10:53:45 -0500, Poe wrote: Begin
> >about his supposed mental state, thinking about leading a babbling loon
> >who has no idea what's going into the death chamber on made my skin
> >crawl.
>
> such antisocial traits is best to have removed from society.
Yep, might as well let the pond scum die. Glass of champagne is called
for
on such a noble occassion.
realpch
>
> In Message-ID:<4AF9E3AE...@aol.com> posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:05:37
> -0800, realpch wrote: Begin
>
> >Bart Bailey wrote:
> >>
> >> In Message-ID:<7ltgkaF...@mid.individual.net> posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009
> >> 10:53:45 -0500, Poe wrote: Begin
> >>
> >> >I just felt a little conflicted when I read
> >> >about his supposed mental state, thinking about leading a babbling loon
> >> >who has no idea what's going into the death chamber on made my skin
> >> >crawl.
> >>
> >> Could be a function of eugenics that such an individual once shown to exhibit
> >> such antisocial traits is best to have removed from society.
> >
> >I'm ambivalent about the death penalty myself. When I read of a really
> >cruel crime, it's "Hang 'Em High!" But calmer reflection always reverts
> >in favor of just locking them up forever. I'm not sure how this would
> >work if a family member were killed.
> >
> >Peach
>
> And with no retaliatory grudge to be settled,
> merely taken like out of season poached game,
> both those triggermen deserve extinction IMO.
I am quite aware that the victims had family. Not all people who have
known murder victims find they wish for the death penalty, though they
may be in the minority. I have read no studies on this matter.
Nancy Rudins
> In Message-ID:<7ltgkaF...@mid.individual.net> posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009
> 10:53:45 -0500, Poe wrote: Begin
>
>> about his supposed mental state, thinking about leading a babbling loon
>> who has no idea what's going into the death chamber on made my skin
>> crawl.
>
> such antisocial traits is best to have removed from society.
Is the death penalty the only way to accomplish this?
Nancy
--
Illinois: where our governors make our license plates.
nru...@att.net
realpch
>
> In Message-ID:<yb6dndymcrpu8GfX...@supernews.com> posted on Wed, 11
> Nov 2009 01:55:31 -0600, Nancy Rudins wrote: Begin
>
> >Bart Bailey wrote:
> >> In Message-ID:<7ltgkaF...@mid.individual.net> posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009
> >> 10:53:45 -0500, Poe wrote: Begin
> >>
> >>> I just felt a little conflicted when I read
> >>> about his supposed mental state, thinking about leading a babbling loon
> >>> who has no idea what's going into the death chamber on made my skin
> >>> crawl.
> >>
> >> Could be a function of eugenics that such an individual once shown to exhibit
> >> such antisocial traits is best to have removed from society.
> >
> >Is the death penalty the only way to accomplish this?
> >
> >Nancy
>
> Even with LWOP there is a constant burden on society's resources as long as the
> perp lives, and although not an open menace, still has such potential if ever
> freed or escapes.
I keep reading that it's actually more expensive to execute people than
to just keep them in jail. Cost basis is one good way to make such decisions.
Marianna
> > >Nancy
bart replied:
> > Yep, pretty much.
> > Even with LWOP there is a constant burden on society's resources as long as the perp lives, and although not an open menace, still has such potential if ever freed or escapes.
> I keep reading that it's actually more expensive to execute people than
> to just keep them in jail. Cost basis is one good way to make such decisions.
>
> Peach
Part of the reason the death penalty winds up being more expensive is
because of the endless appeals and litigation that go on for years. As
someone pointed out in another thread, this case only took 7 years to
be cleaned up. That's got to cost less that one that drags on for
decades, just by default. The death penalty should be reserved for the
worst cases where guilt is unquestionable, as it was here; because in
that case the only way to make sure the rest of us are safe from
people like Muhammad is to execute them.
Marianna
Poe
The problem is, the DP has gotten off that course of being reserved for
"unquestionable guilt". That's why I started questioning my support for
it - because time after time people were being exonerated for crimes
they were once convicted of, sometimes receiving the DP.
Kris Baker
news:8899e9f8-360b-4e1a...@g27g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
Agree. I'm basically anti-DP....but in this case (and McVeigh),
I'd have put the needle in either's arm, all by myself.....clumsily
and untrainedly. So it hurts worse.
Bundy, I wanted him to be able to keep talking. There are too
many unsolved cases here (and in other places) that could have
been cleared up. Execute him later? Mebbe.
Kris
earthage
In California it can take up to five years before a DP inmate even
gets
an appeals attorney assigned to him.
earthage
Here's a recent article from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat about
the death penalty process in California. Sonoma County (Santa Rosa
is its largest city) has Ramon Salcido (who killed 7 people in 1989)
and Richard Allen Davis (Polly Klaas' killer) on death row.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091023/ARTICLES/910239890?&tc=autorefresh
Citing the 25-year delay in implementing death sentences — twice the
national average — the report labeled California’s death penalty law
“dysfunctional,” calling it “the law in name only, and not in
reality.”
The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice’s 196-
page report noted that Death Row swelled from seven inmates in 1978 to
670 in 2007, while just 13 were executed.
snip
Davis, Salcido and five other men have been sentenced to death between
1984 and 2000 for murders committed in Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake
counties. All are still involved in appeals which must, by law, go
through the California Supreme Court, federal courts and ultimately
the U.S. Supreme Court.
The first step, certifying the death sentence by the state high court,
typically comes in about 10 years, the commission report said.
Davis’ conviction was upheld in June, 13 years after the jury’s
verdict. Salcido’s case is moving even slower, with the Supreme Court
action coming in 2008, 18 years after his conviction.
The federal appeals process typically takes 15 years. Salcido’s
attorney, Conrad Petermann, said it is “impossible” to say when they
might be completed.
The California Attorney General’s Office is currently handling 496
death penalty appeals at the state level and 144 in the federal
courts, said Christine Gasparac, spokeswoman.
California’s capital punishment system is essentially gridlocked, with
too few lawyers and too little money to handle that volume, the
commission said. It would cost nearly $100 million to boost both
prosecuting and defense legal staffs to expedite the appeals process,
it said.
Replacing the death penalty with mandatory lifetime incarceration
would cut the system’s costs to less than $12 million a year, the
commission said.
Chocolic
"Poe" <hau...@terrible-thought.com> wrote in message
news:7m044lF...@mid.individual.net...
It seems though that the exonerations we are hearing about, those wrong
convictions happened before DNA? I'm thinking that isn't going to happen as
much nowadays.
I'm still pretty iffy on the DP for Scott Peterson. There was no positive
DNA, no witnesses, no confession. I still find it hard to believe, in this
day and age, that he got the DP. I'm pro DP when it's 100% positively
without a doubt guilt and the crime warrants it, but I don't think there was
in that case. He probably is guilty, but there is that "probably" that
leaves it open enough to require life and not the DP.
Chocolic
Nancy Rudins
> In Message-ID:<yb6dndymcrpu8GfX...@supernews.com> posted on Wed, 11
> Nov 2009 01:55:31 -0600, Nancy Rudins wrote: Begin
>
>>> In Message-ID:<7ltgkaF...@mid.individual.net> posted on Tue, 10 Nov 2009
>>> 10:53:45 -0500, Poe wrote: Begin
>>>
>>>> I just felt a little conflicted when I read
>>>> about his supposed mental state, thinking about leading a babbling loon
>>>> who has no idea what's going into the death chamber on made my skin
>>>> crawl.
>>> Could be a function of eugenics that such an individual once shown to exhibit
>>> such antisocial traits is best to have removed from society.
>> Is the death penalty the only way to accomplish this?
>>
>> Nancy
>
> Even with LWOP there is a constant burden on society's resources as long as the
> perp lives, and although not an open menace, still has such potential if ever
> freed or escapes.
I do not want the state (or federal) government to have
this particular power. All other arguments for/against
the DP pretty much go by me.
realpch
That's a pretty good argument!