Convicted DC sniper Lee Boyd Malvo granted new sentencing hearing
Published:Friday | August 26, 2022 | 9:54 PM
The Maryland Court of Appeals on Friday ordered the re-sentencing of Jamaican Lee Boyd Malvo, who is currently serving four life terms for his involvement in the 2002 sniper attacks in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia that left 10 people dead and three critically wounded.
In ordering the re-sentencing the court of appeals said: “We express no opinion on what sentence the Circuit Court should impose. As in any criminal case, the sentencing court has broad discretion and there will be no question in this instance that the sentencing court is aware of the relevant Eighth Amendment constraints.”
The Court of Appeals said that the sentence should comply with the standards of the Supreme Court and the Circuit Court must re-sentence him for his convictions in Montgomery County.
Malvo was 17 years old when he and 41-year-old John Allen Muhammad began a crime spree in DC, Maryland and Virginia for a three week period in October 2002 before they were arrested later that month at a Maryland rest stop.
In 2006, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge sentenced Malvo to six life sentences without the possibility of parole for his Maryland crimes after he pleaded guilty for his role in the killing of six people in the county.
In 2017, Malvo filed a motion to correct what he claimed was an illegal sentence under a Maryland law, based on a 2012 US Supreme Court ruling barring mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders.
In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly abolished life sentences without parole for juveniles, overriding a veto by Governor Larry Hogan. Virginia passed a similar law.
Maryland's Juvenile Restoration Act, or JUVRA, states that people who have served at least 20 years of a sentence for a crime committed when they were under the age of 18 can file a motion asking the circuit court to reduce their sentence.
The Maryland Circuit Court will determine what his new sentence will be or whether he will be eligible for parole.
No date for his re-sentencing has been set.
- Lester Hinds
Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Inst gram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.