US Supreme Court Denies Sniper's Appeal To Halt Execution
By Kristina Peterson, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused a last-
minute appeal to stop the execution of John Muhammad, the sniper convicted in a
case involving the Washington, D.C., area shootings in 2002.
The high court rejected the petition Muhammad submitted last week asking to
temporarily suspend his death sentence, which is scheduled for Tuesday.
Three justices attached a statement admonishing Virginia and other states for
scheduling executions before the inmate has exhausted all legal options.
"This case highlights once again the perversity of executing inmates before
their appeals process has been fully concluded," wrote Justice John Paul
Stevens. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor joined the statement
but didn't dissent from the decision.
Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, killed 10 people in a
shooting spree during the autumn of 2002, terrifying the Washington area. On
Oct. 24, 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigations Agents captured and arrested the
pair at a Maryland interstate rest area. Muhammad was sentenced to death by a
jury in Virginia's Circuit Court of Prince William County in November 2003 for
the death of one victim, Dean Meyers. Lower courts upheld the decision and the
U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in May 2006.
Muhammad is set to be executed in Richmond, Va. at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday.
-By Kristina Peterson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6619; kristina.peterson@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-09-091330ET
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