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Jury Set to View Car in Sniper Trial

Aired November 20, 2003 - 13:41   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A view from within, that's what awaits jurors in the trial of sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo. The jury's expected to get a firsthand look at the alleged sniper car today.
CNN's Patty Davis outside the courthouse in Chesapeake, Virginia, with more on that and the latest testimony -- Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this morning, Iran Brown, one of the three survivors of the sniper shootings took the stand. And he sat as far away from Lee Boyd Malvo as possible. The prosecutor said that that had been requested by Iran Brown himself and his mother.

Now, Brown says his aunt drove him to school the day he was shot. He said, "I got out of the car and I got shot." Now, he was 13 at the time. His aunt testified that she rushed him into her car and rushed him to a medical facility. And that, apparently, was the quick thinking that saved this boy's life.

Also today, an ATF agent identified Mr. Malvo's fingerprints on the Bushmaster rifle, although he said the palm print was upside down on the grip from where you normally would hold it. He also identified those fingerprints on the map found at the Dean Meyers killing.

Now, the prosecution also played a tape recording today for the jury, the digital recorder that came off -- that was found in Muhammad and Malvo's car when they were arrested. On that recording, the voices say: "You know our demands. You know it can be done. My advice is for you to take it." And then another voice says, "Until then, just follow the body bags." Well, another expert came on to the stand and identified those two voices as Muhammad and Malvo.

Malvo's lawyers were suggesting here that this was a rehearsal, perhaps a demand rehearsal. The snipers had made several phone calls to police during the time of the sniper killings, but this was not among them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, Patty, what's the jury going to do next?

DAVIS: Well, when they come back from lunch, which is in about 15 or 20 minutes, the plan is to take them to a location where they are actually going to be able to examine the blue Chevy Caprice that Muhammad and Malvo were arrested in and get a firsthand look at the seat coming up and access to the trunk, where the gun might have been -- might have been kept, and just what condition that car was in at the time that they were found in it -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right, Patty Davis, thank you.

Well, not far from that courthouse, the defense is trying to show the softer side of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve outside the courthouse is Virginia Beach -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, just before the lunch break, defense attorneys consulted with John Muhammad outside of the courtroom, but they would not answer our questions and tell us what they were up to.

But there are informed observers in the court who believe that they may be trying to make a decision on whether or not to put John Muhammad on the stand. We'll find out after lunch break what that decision might have been, if, indeed, that's what they were considering.

This morning, we heard from the sister of John Muhammad, Aurolyn Williams. She took the stand and talked about their youth. They were illegitimate children. They lived only with their mother. When John was very young, probably around 3 years old, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery and chemotherapy. And she was in a lot of pain, but there wasn't any money for pain medication.

John slept with her, was very attached to her -- all the children very devastated by her death. In the words of the sister: "That was our backbone. That was all we had." She described John Muhammad as a silly little boy who always cracked jokes. "John would never hurt a fly," she said. "John didn't do the fighting. I did." She was one of about a half-dozen witnesses that the defense put on this morning, all of whom spoke of John Muhammad as a good father and as a good friend and a man who was very much changed after he lost custody of his children.

They also showed a videotape in the courtroom of John Muhammad with his children. It looked like almost any family videotape. He's laughing with his kids. There are first steps. There are first teeth. There are baths. One child is on his stomach as he's doing sit-ups, sort of bouncing around, and everyone's laughing.

But this didn't go right. There were technical problems. The tape stopped about halfway through. The jury wasn't able to see it all -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach, thank you.

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 20, 2003 - 13:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A view from within, that's what awaits jurors in the trial of sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo. The jury's expected to get a firsthand look at the alleged sniper car today.
CNN's Patty Davis outside the courthouse in Chesapeake, Virginia, with more on that and the latest testimony -- Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this morning, Iran Brown, one of the three survivors of the sniper shootings took the stand. And he sat as far away from Lee Boyd Malvo as possible. The prosecutor said that that had been requested by Iran Brown himself and his mother.

Now, Brown says his aunt drove him to school the day he was shot. He said, "I got out of the car and I got shot." Now, he was 13 at the time. His aunt testified that she rushed him into her car and rushed him to a medical facility. And that, apparently, was the quick thinking that saved this boy's life.

Also today, an ATF agent identified Mr. Malvo's fingerprints on the Bushmaster rifle, although he said the palm print was upside down on the grip from where you normally would hold it. He also identified those fingerprints on the map found at the Dean Meyers killing.

Now, the prosecution also played a tape recording today for the jury, the digital recorder that came off -- that was found in Muhammad and Malvo's car when they were arrested. On that recording, the voices say: "You know our demands. You know it can be done. My advice is for you to take it." And then another voice says, "Until then, just follow the body bags." Well, another expert came on to the stand and identified those two voices as Muhammad and Malvo.

Malvo's lawyers were suggesting here that this was a rehearsal, perhaps a demand rehearsal. The snipers had made several phone calls to police during the time of the sniper killings, but this was not among them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, Patty, what's the jury going to do next?

DAVIS: Well, when they come back from lunch, which is in about 15 or 20 minutes, the plan is to take them to a location where they are actually going to be able to examine the blue Chevy Caprice that Muhammad and Malvo were arrested in and get a firsthand look at the seat coming up and access to the trunk, where the gun might have been -- might have been kept, and just what condition that car was in at the time that they were found in it -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right, Patty Davis, thank you.

Well, not far from that courthouse, the defense is trying to show the softer side of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve outside the courthouse is Virginia Beach -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, just before the lunch break, defense attorneys consulted with John Muhammad outside of the courtroom, but they would not answer our questions and tell us what they were up to.

But there are informed observers in the court who believe that they may be trying to make a decision on whether or not to put John Muhammad on the stand. We'll find out after lunch break what that decision might have been, if, indeed, that's what they were considering.

This morning, we heard from the sister of John Muhammad, Aurolyn Williams. She took the stand and talked about their youth. They were illegitimate children. They lived only with their mother. When John was very young, probably around 3 years old, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery and chemotherapy. And she was in a lot of pain, but there wasn't any money for pain medication.

John slept with her, was very attached to her -- all the children very devastated by her death. In the words of the sister: "That was our backbone. That was all we had." She described John Muhammad as a silly little boy who always cracked jokes. "John would never hurt a fly," she said. "John didn't do the fighting. I did." She was one of about a half-dozen witnesses that the defense put on this morning, all of whom spoke of John Muhammad as a good father and as a good friend and a man who was very much changed after he lost custody of his children.

They also showed a videotape in the courtroom of John Muhammad with his children. It looked like almost any family videotape. He's laughing with his kids. There are first steps. There are first teeth. There are baths. One child is on his stomach as he's doing sit-ups, sort of bouncing around, and everyone's laughing.

But this didn't go right. There were technical problems. The tape stopped about halfway through. The jury wasn't able to see it all -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach, thank you.

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