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American Morning
Should Convicted Sniper John Muhammad Die For His Crimes?
Aired November 21, 2003 - 08:19 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: Should convicted sniper John Muhammad die for his crimes? That is the question that's facing jurors in Virginia Beach as they begin deliberating today on Muhammad's sentence.
Meanwhile, the trial of his alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, continues not very far away.
"New York Times" reporter Adam Liptak has been following both sniper trials and he joins us from Chesapeake this morning.
Good morning.
Nice to see you, Adam.
ADAM LIPTAK, REPORTER, THE "NEW YORK TIMES": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: You, have you found the atmosphere significantly different from the first trial that you covered to the Malvo trial?
Give me a sense of the differences or the similarities, also.
LIPTAK: It's quite different, really. The Malvo trial has been very brisk, very businesslike. The prosecution case is about to wrap up after only five days. And it's been essentially uncontested because Malvo's theory is different from Muhammad's. Malvo more or less admits that he was part of the sniper team that terrorized the Washington area and intends to plead a sort of insanity, that he was so indoctrinated by John Muhammad that he should be acquitted on that ground, or at least that he shouldn't be put to death.
In the Muhammad trial, by contrast, it was the prosecution who was making that same point, who was saying that Muhammad should be held accountable for the killings, even though he was likely not the actual shooter, because he was so controlling of young John Malvo.
O'BRIEN: Yesterday, the jury heard testimony about fingerprints. They got to examine the car.
Give me a sense of what those things, what kind of effect those things had on the jury and also what kind of effect it had on Malvo.
LIPTAK: Malvo has been attentive, seemingly being ground down by the mountain of evidence and testimony against him. He puts his face in his hands often. He bows his head toward the table. But I don't think the jury has been focused so much on the forensic evidence. The things that really grabbed the jury are a taped confession already played, another one to be played today, statements he apparently made to prison guards, all of them very chilling and presenting a portrait not of a young immature kid indoctrinated by John Muhammad, but really of a very bright, cold, calculating, seemingly heartless killer saying things blithely, that he blew people's heads off, he wished he could have killed people had he only gotten a head shot, that he intended to kill them all. And that's going to be very, very difficult for the defense to explain away.
O'BRIEN: We don't have a ton of time, but I want to ask you a quick question about the reaction of John Allen Muhammad. When he watched the videotape of, the old video of him playing with his children, in the courtroom, as the jurors sit around and basically decide his fate.
How was his response?
LIPTAK: You know, I was here in Chesapeake and that's 15 miles away in Virginia Beach, so I did not see it.
O'BRIEN: All right, Adam Liptak joining us this morning from the "New York Times."
Appreciate your time.
Thanks so much.
LIPTAK: 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 21, 2003 - 08:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Should convicted sniper John Muhammad die for his crimes? That is the question that's facing jurors in Virginia Beach as they begin deliberating today on Muhammad's sentence.
Meanwhile, the trial of his alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, continues not very far away.
"New York Times" reporter Adam Liptak has been following both sniper trials and he joins us from Chesapeake this morning.
Good morning.
Nice to see you, Adam.
ADAM LIPTAK, REPORTER, THE "NEW YORK TIMES": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: You, have you found the atmosphere significantly different from the first trial that you covered to the Malvo trial?
Give me a sense of the differences or the similarities, also.
LIPTAK: It's quite different, really. The Malvo trial has been very brisk, very businesslike. The prosecution case is about to wrap up after only five days. And it's been essentially uncontested because Malvo's theory is different from Muhammad's. Malvo more or less admits that he was part of the sniper team that terrorized the Washington area and intends to plead a sort of insanity, that he was so indoctrinated by John Muhammad that he should be acquitted on that ground, or at least that he shouldn't be put to death.
In the Muhammad trial, by contrast, it was the prosecution who was making that same point, who was saying that Muhammad should be held accountable for the killings, even though he was likely not the actual shooter, because he was so controlling of young John Malvo.
O'BRIEN: Yesterday, the jury heard testimony about fingerprints. They got to examine the car.
Give me a sense of what those things, what kind of effect those things had on the jury and also what kind of effect it had on Malvo.
LIPTAK: Malvo has been attentive, seemingly being ground down by the mountain of evidence and testimony against him. He puts his face in his hands often. He bows his head toward the table. But I don't think the jury has been focused so much on the forensic evidence. The things that really grabbed the jury are a taped confession already played, another one to be played today, statements he apparently made to prison guards, all of them very chilling and presenting a portrait not of a young immature kid indoctrinated by John Muhammad, but really of a very bright, cold, calculating, seemingly heartless killer saying things blithely, that he blew people's heads off, he wished he could have killed people had he only gotten a head shot, that he intended to kill them all. And that's going to be very, very difficult for the defense to explain away.
O'BRIEN: We don't have a ton of time, but I want to ask you a quick question about the reaction of John Allen Muhammad. When he watched the videotape of, the old video of him playing with his children, in the courtroom, as the jurors sit around and basically decide his fate.
How was his response?
LIPTAK: You know, I was here in Chesapeake and that's 15 miles away in Virginia Beach, so I did not see it.
O'BRIEN: All right, Adam Liptak joining us this morning from the "New York Times."
Appreciate your time.
Thanks so much.
LIPTAK: 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
