The Death Penalty?

I support the death penalty, but there are undeniable problems with the current way it is implemented. Those issues are for another post; what I also consider undeniable is the person(s) responsible for the sniping deaths deserve to be legally put to death.

Maryland has a death penalty, however, there is a moratorium on it's use at the moment. Premeditated first-degree murder committed by someone 18 years old and over is a capital offense.

Virginia has a death penalty. First-degree murder with one of nine aggravating circumstances, of which these possibly pertain to the sniper: robbery or attempted robbery, multiple homicide, murder for hire, murder of more than 1 person in a 3 year period, murder victim is less than 14 by an over 21 year old perpetrator.

However, D.C. does not.

Alabama has a death penalty. It applies to those 16 and up who intentionally commit murder with one of eighteen aggravating factors. They are attempting to apply the death penalty to the killer(s).

There are many offenses which qualify for the federal death penalty, of which these possibly apply to the sniper: murder related to the smuggling of aliens, first-degree murder, and murder for hire.

I'm assuming that given the interstate nature of the killings, this could be a messy process. The prosecutorial legal tangling is underway. Interestingly, the article says

[...]there is little chance of federal prosecution, since there don't appear to be any applicable federal charges that carry the death penalty.

Odd. My bet goes to Virginia as the spot where the "real" sniper case goes. It has a strong history of using the death penalty -- they're in second place behind Texas in number of innmates executed.

UPDATE(11/17/2003 8:07pm)
Muhammad Convicted in Sniper Victim Case

In a verdict that could cost him his life, a stone-faced John Allen Muhammad was convicted Monday of using a high-powered rifle, a beat-up car and a teenage sidekick to murder people at random and terrorize the Washington area during last year's sniper attacks.

The jury immediately began hearing evidence on whether the 42-year-old Army veteran should get the death penalty or life in prison.

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

UPDATE(11/24/2003 10:37am)
Sniper Mastermind Receives Death Sentence

A jury decided Monday that John Allen Muhammad should be executed for masterminding the sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington area for three weeks last fall.

As the verdict was read, Muhammad maintained the same unflinching demeanor he has shown through most of the trial.

Jurors sent word they had reached a decision after deliberating five hours over two days. Jurors convicted the 42-year-old Army veteran of murder a week ago and then heard testimony in the sentencing phase.

The jury's recommendation is not final. Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. can reduce the punishment to life in prison without parole when Muhammad is formally sentenced, but Virginia judges rarely take such action.

The jury concluded that prosecutors proved at least one of two aggravating factors allowing the death penalty: that Muhammad would pose a danger in the future or that his crimes were wantonly vile. He was sentenced to death on both counts he was convicted of last Monday, multiple murders within three years and murder as part of a terrorist plot.

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Posted by Drizzten at October 25, 2002 11:23 AM