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American Morning

Jury to Decide if Malvo Should Get Death Penalty

Aired December 23, 2003 - 07:10   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The defense says that putting Lee Boyd Malvo to death would simply be vengeance, but the prosecution calls it justice. And this morning, the jury that convicted the teenager will resume deliberations on whether he should face the death penalty for committing one of the D.C.-area sniper killings.
We get details now from Elaine Quijano in Chesapeake, Virginia, this morning.

Elaine -- good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

After deliberating for several hours yesterday, the jury could not reach a decision on a sentence for Lee Malvo. And so, they are set to resume their work in a couple of hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): Behind closed doors, four men and eight women face a daunting choice -- to sentence Lee Malvo to life in prison or death. Jurors in the John Muhammad trial know how difficult the decision can be.

JERRY HAGGERTY, JUROR IN MUHAMMAD TRIAL: People might think they know how they feel about the death penalty, but until you actually have to sit there and be one of the people that have to write down life or death, you really don't know deep down how you truly feel about it.

QUIJANO: Monday, jurors heard from three defense witnesses, including Lee Malvo's father, Leslie Malvo, who shielded his face as he entered the courthouse. On the stand, he paused to maintain his composure, describing his son in his early childhood as affectionate.

But prosecutor Robert Horan said the crime showed proof of Malvo's vileness and depravity of mind. Horan showed pictures of victims before and after they were targeted by the snipers.

Muhammad and Malvo, he said, "were an unholy team, a team that was as vicious, as brutal, as uncaring as you could find. Talk about John Muhammad all you want. Maybe it was his plan, maybe it was his idea, but the evidence stamps this defendant as the shooter."

But defense attorney Craig Cooley appealed to the jury's sense of compassion. He held a fist-sized stone and told jurors that in ancient times, jurors would participate in executions by stoning the accused.

Said Cooley, "You are not holding it, but you can feel the weight of the stone. The commonwealth urges you to vote to kill, to stain your stone with the blood of this child. Your humanity challenges you to let this stone lie."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

As for the jurors' schedule, if they do not reach a decision today, the judge has said they will take a break for the Christmas holiday and continue their work on Monday -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Elaine, how did the jurors respond? I mean, we hear those comments of staining the stone with the blood of a child. I mean, that's pretty tough stuff. Could you tell the jurors' reaction to that?

QUIJANO: Yes. Well, Soledad, they were watching very intensely. They were watching not only when Craig Cooley was giving his closing arguments, but also the prosecutor, Robert Horan. This was a very visual moment, though -- Craig Cooley holding that stone, holding it in his hand for them to see as he's telling them to not stain the stone with the blood of this child. He continually referred to Lee Malvo as a child over and over again throughout his closings.

And by contrast, Robert Horan said, that's no dummy sitting there. He really was trying to impress upon the jurors that in his mind the evidence and the crimes, he said, really pointed to the fact that he believed Lee Malvo was a cold, calculating killer -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, it will be interesting, and we will wait to see exactly how the jury decides on this. Elaine Quijano for us this morning. Elaine, thanks.

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 December 23, 2003 - 07:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The defense says that putting Lee Boyd Malvo to death would simply be vengeance, but the prosecution calls it justice. And this morning, the jury that convicted the teenager will resume deliberations on whether he should face the death penalty for committing one of the D.C.-area sniper killings.
We get details now from Elaine Quijano in Chesapeake, Virginia, this morning.

Elaine -- good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

After deliberating for several hours yesterday, the jury could not reach a decision on a sentence for Lee Malvo. And so, they are set to resume their work in a couple of hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): Behind closed doors, four men and eight women face a daunting choice -- to sentence Lee Malvo to life in prison or death. Jurors in the John Muhammad trial know how difficult the decision can be.

JERRY HAGGERTY, JUROR IN MUHAMMAD TRIAL: People might think they know how they feel about the death penalty, but until you actually have to sit there and be one of the people that have to write down life or death, you really don't know deep down how you truly feel about it.

QUIJANO: Monday, jurors heard from three defense witnesses, including Lee Malvo's father, Leslie Malvo, who shielded his face as he entered the courthouse. On the stand, he paused to maintain his composure, describing his son in his early childhood as affectionate.

But prosecutor Robert Horan said the crime showed proof of Malvo's vileness and depravity of mind. Horan showed pictures of victims before and after they were targeted by the snipers.

Muhammad and Malvo, he said, "were an unholy team, a team that was as vicious, as brutal, as uncaring as you could find. Talk about John Muhammad all you want. Maybe it was his plan, maybe it was his idea, but the evidence stamps this defendant as the shooter."

But defense attorney Craig Cooley appealed to the jury's sense of compassion. He held a fist-sized stone and told jurors that in ancient times, jurors would participate in executions by stoning the accused.

Said Cooley, "You are not holding it, but you can feel the weight of the stone. The commonwealth urges you to vote to kill, to stain your stone with the blood of this child. Your humanity challenges you to let this stone lie."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

As for the jurors' schedule, if they do not reach a decision today, the judge has said they will take a break for the Christmas holiday and continue their work on Monday -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Elaine, how did the jurors respond? I mean, we hear those comments of staining the stone with the blood of a child. I mean, that's pretty tough stuff. Could you tell the jurors' reaction to that?

QUIJANO: Yes. Well, Soledad, they were watching very intensely. They were watching not only when Craig Cooley was giving his closing arguments, but also the prosecutor, Robert Horan. This was a very visual moment, though -- Craig Cooley holding that stone, holding it in his hand for them to see as he's telling them to not stain the stone with the blood of this child. He continually referred to Lee Malvo as a child over and over again throughout his closings.

And by contrast, Robert Horan said, that's no dummy sitting there. He really was trying to impress upon the jurors that in his mind the evidence and the crimes, he said, really pointed to the fact that he believed Lee Malvo was a cold, calculating killer -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, it will be interesting, and we will wait to see exactly how the jury decides on this. Elaine Quijano for us this morning. Elaine, thanks.

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