Lawyers Ask to Spare Sniper's Life

[unhappycamper]

Lawyers Ask to Spare Sniper's Life
October 24, 2009
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Lawyers for Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad have asked Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to spare his life because the Persian Gulf War veteran suffers from mental illness.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, they contend Muhammad should not be executed because of his "brain damage, brain dysfunction, neurological deficits as well as his psychotic and delusional behavior."

Muhammad, 48, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 24, were convicted in a three-week shooting rampage in October 2002 that killed 10 and wounded three in Virginia, Maryland and Washington.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for the Oct. 9, 2002, slaying of Dean Harold Meyers, 53, who was shot at a Manassas-area service station.

In their statement yesterday, Muhammad's lawyers said they met with Kaine's staff Thursday and presented a compilation of audio interviews with lawyers, mental-health experts and witnesses rather than a traditional written request for executive clemency.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/lawyers-ask-to-spare-snipers-life.html?col=1186032310810