Supreme Court seems split on possible resentencing for teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo

Malvo was a 15-year-old Jamaica who had been sent to live in Antigua when he met John Allen Muhammed and idolized him has a father figure. Back in 2002, the duo embarked on a nationwide killing spree that ended with 10 people dead and three wounded in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Malvo was 17 years old during the times of the murders.

The Supreme Court has heard arguments regarding Malvo being unlawfully sentence to life without parole in Virginia.

Malvo’s attorneys believe he deserves a new hearing due to the fact that the Supreme Court rulings excluding mandatory life sentences for juveniles and reserving the punishment for those “rare children whose crimes reflect irreparable corruption.”

The State of Virginia is arguing that Malvo’s life sentence was not mandatory because the judge theoretically had the discretion to suspect a part of Malvo’s life sentence. Despite a state law that mandates execution or life without parole as the only sentencing option for a capital murder conviction.

Even if Malvo were to succeed at the high courts and receive a new sentencing hearing, a Virginia judge can still reimpose a life sentence. Outside of Virginia, Malvo is facing six life-without-parole terms in Maryland. Courts have placed Malvo’s Maryland appeals on while the Supreme Court make a decision on the case.

Elena Kagan, a judge on the court’s liberal wing, stated the high court’s previous rulings on the subject should be understood broadly and mentioned that courts are likely to give serious consideration to the notion that youth matters” in resolving a juvenile’s sentence.

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The random shooting that terrorized the region led to bizarre coded conversations between the police and the snipers, even during live news conferences with phrases such as “Call me God” and “We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.”

John Allen Muhammed was sentenced to death and executed back in 2009. Although Malvo pleaded insanity but was convicted. During the trial, the jury was tasked with sentencing Malvo either to death or life without parole.

Victim of the snipers are undecided on the question. A few of the survivors and family members they oppose a resentencing.