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American Morning

Sniper Trials

Aired November 14, 2003 - 07:12   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the two trials of the D.C. area sniper defendants. This morning, jurors will begin deliberating the fate of John Allen Muhammad. Meanwhile, the trial of his alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, will resume Monday when prosecution testimony is set to begin.
With the latest on both cases, here's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A child, poor, mentally and physically abused, often abandoned by his parents -- the portrait of Lee Malvo drawn by defense attorney, Craig Cooley. Enter John Muhammad, and Malvo is molded into a child soldier, led to believe extortion money would be used to set up a utopian society in Canada.

CRAIG COOLEY, MALVO'S ATTORNEY: Mr. Muhammad was his commanding officer, for all practical purposes, after this training concluded.

MESERVE: Prosecutor Robert Horan dismissed the contention that Muhammad left Malvo unable to distinguish right from wrong. "No way in the world he did not know what he did, how he did it and why he did it." In his opening statement weaving together the shootings, the evidence and Malvo's alleged confessions, Horan told the jury, "We want you to be fair to all of the dead people and convict Lee Malvo."

Convict John Muhammad, the message of prosecutor Richard Conway in a courtroom 15 miles away. Conway said Muhammad was the captain of a sniper killing team, who led a conspiracy to kill, terrorize and extort. Conway conceded the evidence was circumstantial, but "physical evidence doesn't lie," he said.

Muhammad's defense attorney, Peter Greenspun, argued prosecutors had not proven their case, saying there is more than a gap, a canyon in the evidence. Greenspun said the prosecution case was built on suspicion, speculation and innuendo, as he tried to raise questions about scenarios, witnesses and evidence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Prosecutor Paul Ebert got the last word. He characterized Muhammad as the kind of man who would pat you on the back and cut your throat. He urged the jurors to use common sense and find him guilty. The jurors begin their deliberations in less than two hours -- Anderson. COOPER: Jeanne, what happens with the Malvo trial? I know it's set to resume on Monday, I believe, but there is some problem with evidence. It may not be released from the Muhammad trial in time. Is that correct?

MESERVE: That's why they're not in session today. There are some key pieces of evidence, one of them being the rifle, that they think the jurors here might want to take a look at, and they wanted to make the evidence available here. So, the decision was made to keep the Malvo trial in recess, at least for today, and see if they come up with a verdict here.

COOPER: All right. And a likelihood that there will be a verdict today? This trial has been, just as you're remarked in the past, just incredibly quick.

MESERVE: Well, parts of it have been quick, parts of it has been slow. There is a lot of testimony here. A lot of testimony. I think it's dragged on for 16 days. There have been well over 100 witnesses. There's a lot for the jury to go through.

Will they be quick? Will they be slow? There's really no way to predict. Every jury panel has its own character, and I don't know yet what the character of this one will be -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Jeanne Meserve, thanks 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 November 14, 2003 - 07:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the two trials of the D.C. area sniper defendants. This morning, jurors will begin deliberating the fate of John Allen Muhammad. Meanwhile, the trial of his alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, will resume Monday when prosecution testimony is set to begin.
With the latest on both cases, here's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A child, poor, mentally and physically abused, often abandoned by his parents -- the portrait of Lee Malvo drawn by defense attorney, Craig Cooley. Enter John Muhammad, and Malvo is molded into a child soldier, led to believe extortion money would be used to set up a utopian society in Canada.

CRAIG COOLEY, MALVO'S ATTORNEY: Mr. Muhammad was his commanding officer, for all practical purposes, after this training concluded.

MESERVE: Prosecutor Robert Horan dismissed the contention that Muhammad left Malvo unable to distinguish right from wrong. "No way in the world he did not know what he did, how he did it and why he did it." In his opening statement weaving together the shootings, the evidence and Malvo's alleged confessions, Horan told the jury, "We want you to be fair to all of the dead people and convict Lee Malvo."

Convict John Muhammad, the message of prosecutor Richard Conway in a courtroom 15 miles away. Conway said Muhammad was the captain of a sniper killing team, who led a conspiracy to kill, terrorize and extort. Conway conceded the evidence was circumstantial, but "physical evidence doesn't lie," he said.

Muhammad's defense attorney, Peter Greenspun, argued prosecutors had not proven their case, saying there is more than a gap, a canyon in the evidence. Greenspun said the prosecution case was built on suspicion, speculation and innuendo, as he tried to raise questions about scenarios, witnesses and evidence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Prosecutor Paul Ebert got the last word. He characterized Muhammad as the kind of man who would pat you on the back and cut your throat. He urged the jurors to use common sense and find him guilty. The jurors begin their deliberations in less than two hours -- Anderson. COOPER: Jeanne, what happens with the Malvo trial? I know it's set to resume on Monday, I believe, but there is some problem with evidence. It may not be released from the Muhammad trial in time. Is that correct?

MESERVE: That's why they're not in session today. There are some key pieces of evidence, one of them being the rifle, that they think the jurors here might want to take a look at, and they wanted to make the evidence available here. So, the decision was made to keep the Malvo trial in recess, at least for today, and see if they come up with a verdict here.

COOPER: All right. And a likelihood that there will be a verdict today? This trial has been, just as you're remarked in the past, just incredibly quick.

MESERVE: Well, parts of it have been quick, parts of it has been slow. There is a lot of testimony here. A lot of testimony. I think it's dragged on for 16 days. There have been well over 100 witnesses. There's a lot for the jury to go through.

Will they be quick? Will they be slow? There's really no way to predict. Every jury panel has its own character, and I don't know yet what the character of this one will be -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Jeanne Meserve, thanks 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.