ANNAPOLIS (Washington Insider Magazine) – Due to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibiting mandatory life terms for minors, Maryland’s apex court heard arguments Tuesday as to whether sniper Lee Boyd Malvo’s 6 life terms without the chance of parole should be revisited.
In consideration of the Supreme Court judgment, Maryland public attorney Kiran Iyer argued that Malvo’s life sentence without the possibility of parole should be reassessed. Malvo was Seventeen at the time of the gunshots that scared the region. According to NBC NEWS, he also believes his client can and should benefit from Maryland’s new statute allowing minors convicted as adults to seek parole after serving at least 20 years.
During a 3 week period in 2002, Malvo and his mentor, John Allen Muhammad, 41, shot victims as they pumped gas, carried items into their vehicles, and went about their daily lives in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia.
In 2009, Muhammad was given the death penalty and executed in Virginia.
Iyer argued before the Maryland Court of Appeals on Tuesday that a judge neglected to take Malvo’s age into account when sentencing him. He also said that it was obvious that the court believed Malvo was capable of reform, which is more important now that the law has changed.
Malvo is now imprisoned in Virginia and would have to be paroled from that state first, according to Carrie Williams, an associate attorney general for the state of Maryland. He is serving 4 life terms for 3 murders and 1 attempted murder, according to her.
Malvo was also sentenced to six life terms without the possibility of parole in Maryland for executing 6 people.
On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals did not announce a decision. It may take months for the court to decide.
Life sentences for defendants Seventeen and younger should be barred for all but the rarest of juvenile offenders, those whose crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility, according to the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Miller v. Alabama.
In addition, the Maryland General Assembly overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto last year and removed life in prison without parole for minors. Last year, Virginia approved identical laws. Malvo’s legal appeal to the Supreme Court to decide whether his life term should be revoked was dropped as a result of the move.
Image via Reuters
