“SNIPER” TRIALS PROJECT

The upcoming trials of accused sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo will undoubtedly create a barrage of media attention, much of which will feed the public’s fascination with the macabre.  VADP fears that fundamental questions and concerns surrounding the death penalty will be washed away, cloaked only in the visceral images of the heinous nature of the crimes.  The sensationalism and heightened emotions surrounding the trials endanger the growing conviction within Virginia and the nation that the death penalty system is irrevocably flawed.  With the appropriate response, however, the trials could be transformed into a powerful opportunity to raise awareness and encourage a rich national discussion about the true nature of capital punishment.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is on the offensive and knows Virginia is a killing field.  It is no secret that Virginia exceeded only by Texas in the number of persons executed since 1976.  It was chosen by the attorney general “in part because its laws allow the best opportunity to obtain the death penalty” (Associated Press, November 8, 2002).  Ashcroft sent Muhammad and Malvo, already tried and convicted in the media, to the Commonwealth for execution, not for impartial trials.  Leaked stories about Malvo’s alleged “confession” to police officers have spread through the U.S. public like a wildfire, contaminating the potential jury pool.  The unseemly rush to judgment and bloodlust in these cases runs counter to our judicial system’s “golden rule”: innocent until proven guilty. 

In these difficult times, it is important to offer every Virginian an alternative vision, one that seeks justice and fairness, not revenge and hate.  VADP is poised to provide that vision.  We are excited to announce plans to establish field offices at the trial sites of both Muhammad (Virginia Beach) and Malvo (Chesapeake) that will function as a home base for VADP and others waging an alternative media campaign during the trials.  Our director will work out of the field offices for approximately two months to coordinate activities, answer media questions, issue press releases, and establish a presence for our viewpoint.  The offices will provide phone, desk, and computer access for VADP staff, volunteers, and other anti-death penalty groups’ representatives attending and monitoring the trials.  We hope to maintain vigils outside each courthouse.  Alternative voices from organizations including Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, will be available for media interviews at these offices. 

The issue of the juvenile death penalty will be at the forefront of our message during the trial of Lee Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings.  Medical and ethical reasons illustrate that the juvenile death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment.  For example, recent studies on adolescent brain development contradict the previously held notion that a person’s brain is fully developed by age 14.  Until age 22, the adolescent brain experiences significant changes in areas that calm emotions, control impulses, and make decisions.   Adolescents do not have the maturity of adults and thus should not be considered as responsible as adults who commit similar crimes. 

The United States is one of only a handful of countries that permits the execution of juvenile offenders; Virginia is one of 22 states that sentence juveniles to death.  The legal systems of virtually every nation in the world provide justice without executing juvenile offenders.  Amnesty International reports that the U.S. is the only country known to have executed juvenile offenders in 2002, when Texas executed three juvenile offenders in three months.  Every nation in the world, except the United States and Somalia, has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the execution of juvenile offenders.

Lee Boyd Malvo’s trial provides an opportunity to question whether juveniles should be held to the same standards as adults, particularly because his suspected accomplice is an adult military veteran described as “controlling.”  Malvo reportedly was not able to even eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the consent of Muhammad, his alleged accomplice. 

Muhammad and Malvo are accused of terrible crimes.  If they are found guilty, they must be held accountable.  But if they are proven guilty, Muhammad and Malvo can be punished without being executed.  The upcoming trials will provide a forum for our message that the death penalty is unequal, unfair, unnecessary, and irreversible.  We hope to use the high exposure nature of these trials to educate Virginia and the nation about alternatives to capital punishment.  Should either of the accused receive less than death sentences, it would be a major victory for the anti-death penalty movement not only in Virginia but across the nation.