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CNN Live At Daybreak
Convicted Sniper John Muhammad One Step Closer to Dying
Aired November 25, 2003 - 05:04 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Convicted sniper John Muhammad is one step closer to dying for his crimes. A judge will decide in February if he'll accept a jury's recommendation of the death penalty.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve reports the jury's decision for death was gut wrenching.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Death the recommended penalty for a season of murder and terror.
LEE MALVO: Until then, just hold the body bags.
MESERVE: Death for the 10 lives lost and numerous others forever changed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prince Georges County emergency. Can I help you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh, I think I'm going to be able to drive my nephew to the hospital, but...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the matter with him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just got shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your wife is shot?
WILLIAM FRANKLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where has she been shot?
FRANKLIN: She's shot in the head.
PAUL EBERT, COMMONWEALTH'S ATTORNEY: I think the jury got to see all the good there was in him, and it wasn't enough.
MESERVE: The good the jurors saw, video and photos of John Muhammad with his children and letters from them.
For some, it complicated the decision.
HEATHER BEST-TEAGUE, JUROR: The hardest thing for me, truthfully, the fact that he has children.
MESERVE: But with the accumulation of evidence -- the car, the murder weapon, maps of shooting scenes, the tarot card and notes, gruesome photographs and 911 tapes, jurors overcame reservations about the death penalty.
STEPHEN SALTZBURG, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: It's really hard to imagine that anything that the defense did was really going to change the result in this case.
MESERVE: Some jurors spoke about Muhammad's lack of remorse and the future danger he might pose.
DENNIS BOWMAN, JUROR: If he's locked up, you know, put in the deepest hole, sooner or later he's going to fabricate something, find an opportunity to harm someone else, whether it's prison personnel or another inmate.
MESERVE: Muhammad betrayed no reaction in the courtroom, but his attorneys said they were bitterly disappointed.
PETER GREENSPUN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There's been much pain and devastation. The sanction of yet another death by the government is not likely to come of any benefit to anyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you read that?
MESERVE: Dean Meyers was, by all accounts, a generous man. He survived a sniper in Vietnam, but another at a Manassas, Virginia gas station killed him. His murder was the centerpiece of this trial. And for his family there is, with this verdict, some measure of closure.
BOB MEYERS: This isn't a revenge thing, not in any way. I just feel like what was done was right.
MESERVE (on camera): There will be appeals and other trials for other murders. But this jury has spoken and this jury has said John Muhammad should die for his crimes.
Jean Meserve, CNN, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 November 25, 2003 - 05:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Convicted sniper John Muhammad is one step closer to dying for his crimes. A judge will decide in February if he'll accept a jury's recommendation of the death penalty.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve reports the jury's decision for death was gut wrenching.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Death the recommended penalty for a season of murder and terror.
LEE MALVO: Until then, just hold the body bags.
MESERVE: Death for the 10 lives lost and numerous others forever changed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prince Georges County emergency. Can I help you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh, I think I'm going to be able to drive my nephew to the hospital, but...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the matter with him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just got shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your wife is shot?
WILLIAM FRANKLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where has she been shot?
FRANKLIN: She's shot in the head.
PAUL EBERT, COMMONWEALTH'S ATTORNEY: I think the jury got to see all the good there was in him, and it wasn't enough.
MESERVE: The good the jurors saw, video and photos of John Muhammad with his children and letters from them.
For some, it complicated the decision.
HEATHER BEST-TEAGUE, JUROR: The hardest thing for me, truthfully, the fact that he has children.
MESERVE: But with the accumulation of evidence -- the car, the murder weapon, maps of shooting scenes, the tarot card and notes, gruesome photographs and 911 tapes, jurors overcame reservations about the death penalty.
STEPHEN SALTZBURG, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: It's really hard to imagine that anything that the defense did was really going to change the result in this case.
MESERVE: Some jurors spoke about Muhammad's lack of remorse and the future danger he might pose.
DENNIS BOWMAN, JUROR: If he's locked up, you know, put in the deepest hole, sooner or later he's going to fabricate something, find an opportunity to harm someone else, whether it's prison personnel or another inmate.
MESERVE: Muhammad betrayed no reaction in the courtroom, but his attorneys said they were bitterly disappointed.
PETER GREENSPUN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There's been much pain and devastation. The sanction of yet another death by the government is not likely to come of any benefit to anyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you read that?
MESERVE: Dean Meyers was, by all accounts, a generous man. He survived a sniper in Vietnam, but another at a Manassas, Virginia gas station killed him. His murder was the centerpiece of this trial. And for his family there is, with this verdict, some measure of closure.
BOB MEYERS: This isn't a revenge thing, not in any way. I just feel like what was done was right.
MESERVE (on camera): There will be appeals and other trials for other murders. But this jury has spoken and this jury has said John Muhammad should die for his crimes.
Jean Meserve, CNN, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
