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American Morning

Interview With Kirby Porter

Aired October 29, 2002 - 07:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The list of charges against the sniper suspects is growing longer. As we reported just moments ago, authorities in Tacoma, Washington say John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo are suspected of killing a woman and vandalizing a synagogue there.
But as more courts get into the case, will prosecutors start to step on one another's toes?

Joining us now to more about what the Commonwealth's attorney has to say is the Commonwealth attorney from Hanover County, Virginia, Kirby Porter. He joins us from Richmond this morning.

Good to have you with us, sir -- welcome.

KIRBY PORTER, VA. COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Do you think Virginia now has the upper hand perhaps in prosecuting these cases first?

PORTER: I wouldn't say we have the upper hand. That would connote that there is some sort of a disagreement.

Right now, everybody is just working together to sort this out as to where the best jurisdiction is to seek the just punishment in this case, which obviously is capital punishment.

ZAHN: You obviously, I would think, believe Virginia is the place to do that. Virginia prosecutors are sending more people to execution in any other state than Texas.

PORTER: Virginia has a great capital punishment statute. We have experienced prosecutors. Our judiciary understands the process of capital punishment appeals and trials.

Unlike Maryland, we do have capital punishment for the 17-year- old. We do not have a moratorium on our capital punishment statutes, and there are many, many factors that weigh in favor of the Commonwealth or Virginia having this case first.

ZAHN: So, you say in using language like "going first," it might connote that there is some discord among the municipalities, but who do you think should go first?

PORTER: Virginia should go first, and there's no argument or discord. I've talked to all of the other prosecutors in Prince William, Fairfax and Spotsylvania County, the U.S. attorney's office for both Baltimore and the Eastern District and our attorney general. Everyone would like to see the Commonwealth go first, or Virginia go first, and we'll decide. We'll have meetings as to who has the best case.

You obviously want to have the best case go forward. In Virginia, we have a mitigation statute that at sentencing, you get to argue that other things break in favor of the defendant. If you have a trial in Maryland, where they can only give the 17-year-old life, they would be able to argue that life is all this case is worth.

So, it's important to us here in Virginia that we prosecute these cases first.

ZAHN: Isn't it also true, because of a terrorism law on the books in your state, you could get the death sentence without actually proving who fired the fatal shots?

PORTER: Absolutely. Under death penalty statutes, there's what's called the trigger man rule. Obviously -- or in plain English, that means the person who pulled the trigger.

Under the terrorism statute in Virginia, which became law in July of this year, you do not have that prohibition. You can give that sentence to both the leader and the follower -- the one who encouraged them to do it and the one who did it.

ZAHN: But there are a number of analysts who think that that law is quite untested. What are your concerns about the constitutionality of that law?

PORTER: It's a new law, but it's very plain in its language, it's unambiguous, we've reviewed it. That was one of the charges that we brought under that statute.

It only requires -- the only difference to the tried-and-true tested capital punishment law in Virginia is the definition of terrorism. It's very plain. It says if these acts were intended to disrupt the normal course of civilian life -- we closed our schools -- or the normal course of business, of government -- well, we had law enforcement on standby 24 hours a day -- that's the definition.

ZAHN: CNN has learned that it may be as early as today that we find out what the federal government plans to do about this case. And we understand, our sources have actually confirmed, that prosecutors are focused on a combination of federal charges that, when taken together, would allow Mr. Muhammad to be eligible for the death penalty upon conviction. Is that your understanding?

PORTER: I've been dealing with Paul McNulty for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as Thomas Deviago (ph), in Baltimore. I understand that a decision could be made today. What that decision will be, or what charges will be brought, I do not know.

ZAHN: And what is your understanding if the feds go first? How will that impact your prosecutions? PORTER: Well, obviously, the federal government has the two individuals. They are postured or positioned in a place to go forward. They have the FBI, ATF involved. They have gathered much and analyzed much of the evidence. So, certainly they would be well- positioned to go forward first.

ZAHN: Kirby Porter, the Commonwealth's attorney from Hanover County, Virginia, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We very much appreciate your time.

PORTER: Thank you, Paula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired October 29, 2002 - 07:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The list of charges against the sniper suspects is growing longer. As we reported just moments ago, authorities in Tacoma, Washington say John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo are suspected of killing a woman and vandalizing a synagogue there.
But as more courts get into the case, will prosecutors start to step on one another's toes?

Joining us now to more about what the Commonwealth's attorney has to say is the Commonwealth attorney from Hanover County, Virginia, Kirby Porter. He joins us from Richmond this morning.

Good to have you with us, sir -- welcome.

KIRBY PORTER, VA. COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Do you think Virginia now has the upper hand perhaps in prosecuting these cases first?

PORTER: I wouldn't say we have the upper hand. That would connote that there is some sort of a disagreement.

Right now, everybody is just working together to sort this out as to where the best jurisdiction is to seek the just punishment in this case, which obviously is capital punishment.

ZAHN: You obviously, I would think, believe Virginia is the place to do that. Virginia prosecutors are sending more people to execution in any other state than Texas.

PORTER: Virginia has a great capital punishment statute. We have experienced prosecutors. Our judiciary understands the process of capital punishment appeals and trials.

Unlike Maryland, we do have capital punishment for the 17-year- old. We do not have a moratorium on our capital punishment statutes, and there are many, many factors that weigh in favor of the Commonwealth or Virginia having this case first.

ZAHN: So, you say in using language like "going first," it might connote that there is some discord among the municipalities, but who do you think should go first?

PORTER: Virginia should go first, and there's no argument or discord. I've talked to all of the other prosecutors in Prince William, Fairfax and Spotsylvania County, the U.S. attorney's office for both Baltimore and the Eastern District and our attorney general. Everyone would like to see the Commonwealth go first, or Virginia go first, and we'll decide. We'll have meetings as to who has the best case.

You obviously want to have the best case go forward. In Virginia, we have a mitigation statute that at sentencing, you get to argue that other things break in favor of the defendant. If you have a trial in Maryland, where they can only give the 17-year-old life, they would be able to argue that life is all this case is worth.

So, it's important to us here in Virginia that we prosecute these cases first.

ZAHN: Isn't it also true, because of a terrorism law on the books in your state, you could get the death sentence without actually proving who fired the fatal shots?

PORTER: Absolutely. Under death penalty statutes, there's what's called the trigger man rule. Obviously -- or in plain English, that means the person who pulled the trigger.

Under the terrorism statute in Virginia, which became law in July of this year, you do not have that prohibition. You can give that sentence to both the leader and the follower -- the one who encouraged them to do it and the one who did it.

ZAHN: But there are a number of analysts who think that that law is quite untested. What are your concerns about the constitutionality of that law?

PORTER: It's a new law, but it's very plain in its language, it's unambiguous, we've reviewed it. That was one of the charges that we brought under that statute.

It only requires -- the only difference to the tried-and-true tested capital punishment law in Virginia is the definition of terrorism. It's very plain. It says if these acts were intended to disrupt the normal course of civilian life -- we closed our schools -- or the normal course of business, of government -- well, we had law enforcement on standby 24 hours a day -- that's the definition.

ZAHN: CNN has learned that it may be as early as today that we find out what the federal government plans to do about this case. And we understand, our sources have actually confirmed, that prosecutors are focused on a combination of federal charges that, when taken together, would allow Mr. Muhammad to be eligible for the death penalty upon conviction. Is that your understanding?

PORTER: I've been dealing with Paul McNulty for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as Thomas Deviago (ph), in Baltimore. I understand that a decision could be made today. What that decision will be, or what charges will be brought, I do not know.

ZAHN: And what is your understanding if the feds go first? How will that impact your prosecutions? PORTER: Well, obviously, the federal government has the two individuals. They are postured or positioned in a place to go forward. They have the FBI, ATF involved. They have gathered much and analyzed much of the evidence. So, certainly they would be well- positioned to go forward first.

ZAHN: Kirby Porter, the Commonwealth's attorney from Hanover County, Virginia, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We very much appreciate your time.

PORTER: Thank you, Paula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.