ChicagoAvenger
09-26-2008, 07:02 AM
Fed. judge in Va. rejects sniper Muhammad's appealBy MATTHEW BARAKAT09/24/08 18:19:41
http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=SNwtHq6XC1EJ&imv=1.jpg
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected an appeal from convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, who was sentenced to death for masterminding a 2002 killing spree in the Washington, D.C. region that left 10 people dead.
Muhammad, now on death row in Virginia, claimed numerous errors at his 2003 trial. But U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady in Alexandria, Va., rejected all of Muhammad's claims challenging his conviction and sentence.
The Virginia Supreme Court had already rejected Muhammad's appeal. O'Grady's order issued Wednesday lifts a stay of execution that had been in place while he considered the appeal. But Muhammad can appeal O'Grady's ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
Muhammad's lawyers didn't immediately return a phone message and e-mails on Wednesday.
Muhammad's appellate lawyers argued that Muhammad should not have been allowed to serve as his own lawyer for part of the trial because of mental illness.
Specifically, appellate lawyers James Connell and Jonathan Sheldon argued that Muhammad's trial lawyers knew enough about mental illnesses and brain abnormalities from which Muhammad suffered that they should have convinced the trial judge to bar Muhammad from representing himself.
http://www.fresnobee.com/649/story/891992.html
http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=SNwtHq6XC1EJ&imv=1.jpg
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected an appeal from convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, who was sentenced to death for masterminding a 2002 killing spree in the Washington, D.C. region that left 10 people dead.
Muhammad, now on death row in Virginia, claimed numerous errors at his 2003 trial. But U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady in Alexandria, Va., rejected all of Muhammad's claims challenging his conviction and sentence.
The Virginia Supreme Court had already rejected Muhammad's appeal. O'Grady's order issued Wednesday lifts a stay of execution that had been in place while he considered the appeal. But Muhammad can appeal O'Grady's ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
Muhammad's lawyers didn't immediately return a phone message and e-mails on Wednesday.
Muhammad's appellate lawyers argued that Muhammad should not have been allowed to serve as his own lawyer for part of the trial because of mental illness.
Specifically, appellate lawyers James Connell and Jonathan Sheldon argued that Muhammad's trial lawyers knew enough about mental illnesses and brain abnormalities from which Muhammad suffered that they should have convinced the trial judge to bar Muhammad from representing himself.
http://www.fresnobee.com/649/story/891992.html