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Federal appeals court upholds death sentence for DC sniper

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Friday upheld the death sentence handed down to DC-area sniper John Allen Muhammad. In his appeal, Muhammad alleged "nondisclosure of exculpatory information by the prosecution, ineffective assistance of his trial counsel, improper exclusion of expert testimony during his sentencing phase, and improper time and page restrictions on his habeas petition." In an opinion written by Judge Roger Gregory, the court held, "e are unable to find reversible error in the conclusions of the state and district courts, and we therefore affirm the district court's decision to deny habeas relief." Muhammad's counsel said he plans to petition the court to review Friday's decision en banc. In 2007, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled that a Maryland court did not err in finding Muhammad competent to stand trial in Maryland. Muhammad was sentenced in Maryland in June 2006 to six consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole following his conviction by a Maryland jury of six counts of murder. Maryland prosecutors did not seek the death penalty but wanted a second conviction in case his earlier Virginia conviction was overturned on appeal. Muhammad was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005 in Virginia for shootings there. Accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, who pleaded guilty to the Virginia charges and received a life sentence, testified in the Maryland case that Muhammad pulled the trigger in five of the six killings there.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 08, 2009 (boomark / email).