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American Morning
Life or Death for Muhammad?
Aired November 21, 2003 - 07:19 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: In Virginia this morning, a jury is set to begin making a life or death decision in the case of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad. The prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments yesterday in the penalty phase of the trial. One side showed anger, the other preached compassion.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve is live for us in Virginia Beach this morning.
Jeanne -- good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
A first step, a first tooth, the sorts of things chronicled in the video tapes of many families, but in this instance the laughing father on the tapes was convicted snipe John Muhammad -- the video tape just part of the last-minute battle for jurors, which culminated with those closing arguments last evening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): If there was ever a crime that deserves the death penalty, this is it, thundered prosecutor Paul Ebert, declaring John Muhammad, "the worst of the worst."
Defense attorneys urged jurors to reject a death sentence, saying no matter what, Mohammad's life is over.
PETER GREENSPUN, ATTORNEY FOR MUHAMMAD: Have you ever been in a prison, sir? Prison's not fun. All right? You're talking about a six by nine cell.
MESERVE: Defense attorney Jonathan Shapiro portrayed Muhammad as a good man whose foundation cracked when his family pulled apart. "It was a crushing blow. Something went terribly wrong," Shapiro said.
Defense attorneys used family video tapes and letters to portray Muhammad as a loving father, but prosecutor James Willett reacted with contempt, saying: "That person no longer exists. That person is dead. That person was murdered by the embodiment of malice that sits here before us." Pointing out that the sniper victims among them left 21 children, Willet said, "He doesn't care for children or human life or anything God put on this earth, except himself."
Whether Muhammad lives or dies is a decision that now rests with 12 jurors. It's a tough decision, the brother of one victim said. LARRY MEYERS, BROTHER OF DEAN MEYERS: They will have to think very hard and dig very deep in order to come up with their ultimate response.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Victim families hugged one another and prosecutors as they left the courtroom last night. The sister of John Muhammad sat in the back, silently.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne, a quick question, because I know you're doing double duty for us. Let's talk just for a second about the Malvo trial. What's going on there?
MESERVE: Well, yesterday, the jurors got a look at that Chevy Caprice in which Muhammad and Malvo were arrested. Prosecutors say it was specially modified into a killing machine. Today, they are going to be hearing from June Boil (ph). She's the Fairfax County detective who interrogated Malvo when he was brought there and got those alleged confessions from him -- Soledad.
Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Jeanne, 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 November 21, 2003 - 07:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Virginia this morning, a jury is set to begin making a life or death decision in the case of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad. The prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments yesterday in the penalty phase of the trial. One side showed anger, the other preached compassion.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve is live for us in Virginia Beach this morning.
Jeanne -- good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
A first step, a first tooth, the sorts of things chronicled in the video tapes of many families, but in this instance the laughing father on the tapes was convicted snipe John Muhammad -- the video tape just part of the last-minute battle for jurors, which culminated with those closing arguments last evening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): If there was ever a crime that deserves the death penalty, this is it, thundered prosecutor Paul Ebert, declaring John Muhammad, "the worst of the worst."
Defense attorneys urged jurors to reject a death sentence, saying no matter what, Mohammad's life is over.
PETER GREENSPUN, ATTORNEY FOR MUHAMMAD: Have you ever been in a prison, sir? Prison's not fun. All right? You're talking about a six by nine cell.
MESERVE: Defense attorney Jonathan Shapiro portrayed Muhammad as a good man whose foundation cracked when his family pulled apart. "It was a crushing blow. Something went terribly wrong," Shapiro said.
Defense attorneys used family video tapes and letters to portray Muhammad as a loving father, but prosecutor James Willett reacted with contempt, saying: "That person no longer exists. That person is dead. That person was murdered by the embodiment of malice that sits here before us." Pointing out that the sniper victims among them left 21 children, Willet said, "He doesn't care for children or human life or anything God put on this earth, except himself."
Whether Muhammad lives or dies is a decision that now rests with 12 jurors. It's a tough decision, the brother of one victim said. LARRY MEYERS, BROTHER OF DEAN MEYERS: They will have to think very hard and dig very deep in order to come up with their ultimate response.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Victim families hugged one another and prosecutors as they left the courtroom last night. The sister of John Muhammad sat in the back, silently.
Soledad -- back to you.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne, a quick question, because I know you're doing double duty for us. Let's talk just for a second about the Malvo trial. What's going on there?
MESERVE: Well, yesterday, the jurors got a look at that Chevy Caprice in which Muhammad and Malvo were arrested. Prosecutors say it was specially modified into a killing machine. Today, they are going to be hearing from June Boil (ph). She's the Fairfax County detective who interrogated Malvo when he was brought there and got those alleged confessions from him -- Soledad.
Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Jeanne, 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.
