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American Morning
Officials Weigh Charges in Sniper Case
Aired October 25, 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: As you know by now, the sniper suspects were captured in the very early morning hours yesterday, 3:19 a.m. to be exact. But now that John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo are in custody, prosecutors are moving deliberately as they build their case.
For more on that, let's go to national correspondent Bob Franken. He's standing by at the federal courthouse in Baltimore this morning.
I guess we've got a sense of how deliberate this is all going to be. When Chief Moose had his news conference last night, he made it very clear he's not going to give us much information until, I guess, they settle all of these issues of prosecution.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And of course, that's such a departure from what we were getting from Chief Moose. But in this particular case, I think it may be because they really don't know what they're going to do.
Of course, they had the very preliminary hearings here. The one with John Malvo was held in secret, because he's a juvenile under 18. In the case of John Muhammad, he was charged on some weapons charges.
But now comes the hard part, as prosecutors try and figure out exactly what charges will be made and where they will have the first trials. There are seven different jurisdictions where the shootings occurred in Maryland and Virginia, not counting the federal court system. So, they're going to have to decide where they have that all- important first trial.
And what is so interesting is, is that one of the primary considerations is, which is the likeliest to impose the death penalty? There hasn't even really been a debate among the prosecutors about whether that is the way to go.
But consider this: Maryland, which would seem to have the prime case, Montgomery County, where so many of the deaths occurred and where the first shootings took place, Montgomery County is in Maryland. That has only had three executions since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 -- the entire state.
As a matter of fact, there's a moratorium here. There have been no executions since 1998. Virginia, on the other hand, has had 86 executions since the death penalty was imposed in 1976. So, that is part of the consideration.
But there, of course, is the question of which jurisdiction has the strongest legal case. There is a very preliminary feeling that that would be Montgomery County for all of the obvious reasons.
But what about the federal government? There is a serious question about whether the federal government might have the possibility under its laws to impose the death penalty, particularly in Virginia, where Linda Franklin was an FBI analyst who was shot down by the sniper.
Now, Virginia, of course, has the so-called rocket docket, and so there is some feeling that maybe Virginia should be the venue for the federal government.
You're getting the idea, Paula.
There is supposed to be a meeting between the various prosecutors and U.S. attorneys. That was scheduled for today. We're not quite sure it's going to happen yet, because there are a lot of complicated questions that they really have to resolve even before they meet -- Paula.
ZAHN: And given how difficult it will be to reach any kind of consensus, what kind of a timeline are we talking about here?
FRANKEN: Well, there are two questions here. One, of course, the law moves in a very deliberate way. We do have a court appearance scheduled for next Tuesday.
So, some of the initial questions are going to have to be answered. But don't forget, sometimes this can take several days or weeks. There is, of course, the pressure to try and come to some sort of legal resolution as quickly as possible, but once you get into the legal system, for reasons that are very good, that they move at a very, very deliberate pace.
ZAHN: Bob Franken, you certainly get around. Yesterday at this time, you were at the rest stop where those two men were arrested; back on Justice Department duty this morning. Thanks so much for the update -- appreciate it.
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 25, 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: As you know by now, the sniper suspects were captured in the very early morning hours yesterday, 3:19 a.m. to be exact. But now that John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo are in custody, prosecutors are moving deliberately as they build their case.
For more on that, let's go to national correspondent Bob Franken. He's standing by at the federal courthouse in Baltimore this morning.
I guess we've got a sense of how deliberate this is all going to be. When Chief Moose had his news conference last night, he made it very clear he's not going to give us much information until, I guess, they settle all of these issues of prosecution.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And of course, that's such a departure from what we were getting from Chief Moose. But in this particular case, I think it may be because they really don't know what they're going to do.
Of course, they had the very preliminary hearings here. The one with John Malvo was held in secret, because he's a juvenile under 18. In the case of John Muhammad, he was charged on some weapons charges.
But now comes the hard part, as prosecutors try and figure out exactly what charges will be made and where they will have the first trials. There are seven different jurisdictions where the shootings occurred in Maryland and Virginia, not counting the federal court system. So, they're going to have to decide where they have that all- important first trial.
And what is so interesting is, is that one of the primary considerations is, which is the likeliest to impose the death penalty? There hasn't even really been a debate among the prosecutors about whether that is the way to go.
But consider this: Maryland, which would seem to have the prime case, Montgomery County, where so many of the deaths occurred and where the first shootings took place, Montgomery County is in Maryland. That has only had three executions since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 -- the entire state.
As a matter of fact, there's a moratorium here. There have been no executions since 1998. Virginia, on the other hand, has had 86 executions since the death penalty was imposed in 1976. So, that is part of the consideration.
But there, of course, is the question of which jurisdiction has the strongest legal case. There is a very preliminary feeling that that would be Montgomery County for all of the obvious reasons.
But what about the federal government? There is a serious question about whether the federal government might have the possibility under its laws to impose the death penalty, particularly in Virginia, where Linda Franklin was an FBI analyst who was shot down by the sniper.
Now, Virginia, of course, has the so-called rocket docket, and so there is some feeling that maybe Virginia should be the venue for the federal government.
You're getting the idea, Paula.
There is supposed to be a meeting between the various prosecutors and U.S. attorneys. That was scheduled for today. We're not quite sure it's going to happen yet, because there are a lot of complicated questions that they really have to resolve even before they meet -- Paula.
ZAHN: And given how difficult it will be to reach any kind of consensus, what kind of a timeline are we talking about here?
FRANKEN: Well, there are two questions here. One, of course, the law moves in a very deliberate way. We do have a court appearance scheduled for next Tuesday.
So, some of the initial questions are going to have to be answered. But don't forget, sometimes this can take several days or weeks. There is, of course, the pressure to try and come to some sort of legal resolution as quickly as possible, but once you get into the legal system, for reasons that are very good, that they move at a very, very deliberate pace.
ZAHN: Bob Franken, you certainly get around. Yesterday at this time, you were at the rest stop where those two men were arrested; back on Justice Department duty this morning. Thanks so much for the update -- appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
