Many believe D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo is a psychopath who deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. But the Supreme Court may consider reducing his sentence or releasing him.
Malvo and his mentor John Allen Muhammad terrorized Washington, D.C. during the so-called “D.C. Sniper” shooting spree in 2002. 10 people were killed and three others injured during the sniper attacks.
The two men were arrested while they slept in a car at a highway rest stop in Maryland. Muhammad (pictured below) was executed on death row, per his request.
Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Supporters say Malvo was an immature boy who was easily manipulated by the older man. Now 34, Malvo is a model inmate at a maximum security prison in Virginia.
A talented artist, Malvo spends his days reading the Quran and drawing in his prison cell. The doodle below was entered into evidence December 3, 2003 during his trial at the Chesapeake Circuit Court in Chesapeake, Virginia.
The United States Supreme Court will consider Malvo’s request to re-sentence or release him in the aftermath of a 2012 court decision that prohibits mandatory life sentences for juveniles, ABC News reported.
Malvo’s attorney’s wrote in court documents:
“Invalidation of ‘mandatory’ life without-parole sentences is premised on the court’s recognition that the qualities of youth – immaturity, vulnerability and changeability – must be taken into account when sentencing a juvenile offender because those qualities will typically make life without parole an excessive punishment for a juvenile.”
Malvo’s lawyers say the jury were only instructed to consider a punishment of life without parole or the death penalty in his murder trial.
Malvo’s case has precedence. Just recently, convicted murderer Cyntoia Brown, who killed a man in his sleep when she was 16, was released from prison where she was serving a life sentence.
Brown, now 31, apologized to the victim’s family this week – but only to promote her new memoir, critics say.
