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Malvo's Confession Coerced, Says His Attorney
Aired April 28, 2003 - 13:30 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A key hearing in the Washington, D.C., sniper case. At issue, the alleged confession of suspect, Lee Boyd Malvo.
His lawyer says it was coerced and has asked the judge to throw it out. Joining me now from outside the courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, Jeanne Meserve -- Jean.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, according to court documents in that interrogation, Lee Boyd Malvo admitted to several of the sniper shootings. And so the defense wants very much to keep this document out of the trial. They are trying to make the argument in court today it was obtained illegally.
The star witness this morning was June Boyle. She's a Fairfax County detective and one of the people who conducted that interrogation. She testified that for several hours she and Malvo made small talk as they waited for a delivery of food. And it was only when the conversation began to veer towards the crimes in question that she mirandaized him.
She says at that point at four different times and four different ways, she asked him if he wanted an attorney present, and he said "no." She said, "I wanted to make sure he understood every which way I said it."
Now, Boyle does testify that at one point Malvo asked, "Do I get to see my attorney?"
She said, "yes."
Then Malvo interrupted her, saying that his lawyers had told him not to talk to the cops until they got there. But Boyle testified that, in her mind, this did not constitute a request to have his legal representatives in the room.
Now, Boyle did give a description of the interrogation. She described Malvo as being calm, well-spoken, intelligent, and relaxed during all of this. She also described him as laughing at certain points of the interrogation.
For instance, when she asked him about the shooting of Linda Franklin in a Home Depot parking lot, she said he held his hand to his head as if it was a gun and was laughing at the time he did that. Also, she says he laughed about a near-miss of a young boy in a parking lot. CNN has learned that was at a Michael's craft store. Malvo said to Boyle, according to Boyle, "I might have parted his hair because the bullet went so close to him. The boy thought it might have been a bee as it whizzed past his head."
Also, she described him as laughing when he talked about the shooting of James "Sonny" Buchanan. Buchanan was mowing grass when he was mowed down. According to Boyle, Malvo laughed and said his lawn mower kept going down the street after Buchanan fell to the ground.
Those are some of the highlights this morning. Malvo is in the courtroom. He appeared very attentive today, paying attention to everything that's going on, occasionally having words with his attorney. Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Jean, the question has already been brought up, obviously, by defense attorneys about whether or not this interrogation was legal. It seems like, because of the incredible publicity this case gotten, the incredible loss of life, that the prosecutors and all of the people involved in questioning Malvo would have been extremely careful.
What is the risk here that they have already taken?
MESERVE: I am not a legal analyst. I can't give you chapter and verse on that. I can tell you what Detective Boyle said today, which was that she conducted this interrogation as she would most others, that she was most careful about reading him his rights, and that she was most careful about inquiring several times as to whether he wanted an attorney.
Now I will say that the defense is making counter arguments. They say that particular attention should have been paid here to the fact this was a juvenile that they were dealing with. At this point in time, he was only 17 years old.
This took place at kind of a tricky place in this case. The federal charges had been dropped in Maryland. He was being transferred here to Fairfax County. There was a man who represented himself as a guardian here, who came to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) building in Fairfax County, tried to stop the interrogation. He was not allowed to do so.
What we heard today is that the detectives conducting the interrogation weren't aware he was there and that they shouldn't be governed by things they were not aware of. Also, we're told he wasn't officially appointed a guardian for this boy until the next day.
A lot of very complicated questions here. Also, questions about whether he should have been taken directly to intake when he came to Fairfax County, whether it was proper and correct for him to have been interrogated before he went there.
Those are the sorts of arguments we're going to hear today. They'll be weighed by the judge. Unclear if she'll make a ruling from the bench or whether she'll take it under advisement -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It's an awful lot to think about indeed. Jeanne Meserve in Fairfax, Virginia, thank you very much.
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 April 28, 2003 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A key hearing in the Washington, D.C., sniper case. At issue, the alleged confession of suspect, Lee Boyd Malvo.
His lawyer says it was coerced and has asked the judge to throw it out. Joining me now from outside the courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, Jeanne Meserve -- Jean.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, according to court documents in that interrogation, Lee Boyd Malvo admitted to several of the sniper shootings. And so the defense wants very much to keep this document out of the trial. They are trying to make the argument in court today it was obtained illegally.
The star witness this morning was June Boyle. She's a Fairfax County detective and one of the people who conducted that interrogation. She testified that for several hours she and Malvo made small talk as they waited for a delivery of food. And it was only when the conversation began to veer towards the crimes in question that she mirandaized him.
She says at that point at four different times and four different ways, she asked him if he wanted an attorney present, and he said "no." She said, "I wanted to make sure he understood every which way I said it."
Now, Boyle does testify that at one point Malvo asked, "Do I get to see my attorney?"
She said, "yes."
Then Malvo interrupted her, saying that his lawyers had told him not to talk to the cops until they got there. But Boyle testified that, in her mind, this did not constitute a request to have his legal representatives in the room.
Now, Boyle did give a description of the interrogation. She described Malvo as being calm, well-spoken, intelligent, and relaxed during all of this. She also described him as laughing at certain points of the interrogation.
For instance, when she asked him about the shooting of Linda Franklin in a Home Depot parking lot, she said he held his hand to his head as if it was a gun and was laughing at the time he did that. Also, she says he laughed about a near-miss of a young boy in a parking lot. CNN has learned that was at a Michael's craft store. Malvo said to Boyle, according to Boyle, "I might have parted his hair because the bullet went so close to him. The boy thought it might have been a bee as it whizzed past his head."
Also, she described him as laughing when he talked about the shooting of James "Sonny" Buchanan. Buchanan was mowing grass when he was mowed down. According to Boyle, Malvo laughed and said his lawn mower kept going down the street after Buchanan fell to the ground.
Those are some of the highlights this morning. Malvo is in the courtroom. He appeared very attentive today, paying attention to everything that's going on, occasionally having words with his attorney. Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Jean, the question has already been brought up, obviously, by defense attorneys about whether or not this interrogation was legal. It seems like, because of the incredible publicity this case gotten, the incredible loss of life, that the prosecutors and all of the people involved in questioning Malvo would have been extremely careful.
What is the risk here that they have already taken?
MESERVE: I am not a legal analyst. I can't give you chapter and verse on that. I can tell you what Detective Boyle said today, which was that she conducted this interrogation as she would most others, that she was most careful about reading him his rights, and that she was most careful about inquiring several times as to whether he wanted an attorney.
Now I will say that the defense is making counter arguments. They say that particular attention should have been paid here to the fact this was a juvenile that they were dealing with. At this point in time, he was only 17 years old.
This took place at kind of a tricky place in this case. The federal charges had been dropped in Maryland. He was being transferred here to Fairfax County. There was a man who represented himself as a guardian here, who came to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) building in Fairfax County, tried to stop the interrogation. He was not allowed to do so.
What we heard today is that the detectives conducting the interrogation weren't aware he was there and that they shouldn't be governed by things they were not aware of. Also, we're told he wasn't officially appointed a guardian for this boy until the next day.
A lot of very complicated questions here. Also, questions about whether he should have been taken directly to intake when he came to Fairfax County, whether it was proper and correct for him to have been interrogated before he went there.
Those are the sorts of arguments we're going to hear today. They'll be weighed by the judge. Unclear if she'll make a ruling from the bench or whether she'll take it under advisement -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It's an awful lot to think about indeed. Jeanne Meserve in Fairfax, Virginia, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
