Teen Sniper Suspect to Enter an Insanity Plea

Lawyers for sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo informed a northern Virginia judge Thursday that the teenager plans to mount an insanity defense at his murder trial next month, claiming that “indoctrination” by co-defendant John Allen Muhammad led to his alleged involvement in the killing spree.

Defense attorney Craig Cooley said examinations by privately retained mental health experts determined that Malvo had been powerfully swayed by the 42-year-old Muhammad. Defense lawyers will enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Malvo’s behalf because “this case is so bizarre in its facts, and the degree of indoctrination is so severe,” Cooley said.

Fairfax County Commonwealth Atty. Robert F. Horan Jr., the lead prosecutor, scoffed at Malvo’s legal claim as “late-blooming insanity.” Horan said the 18-year-old suspect had been interviewed “over and over” by a court-appointed mental health analyst, who found no evidence of insanity.

“We had a report from the court expert a month ago, and nowhere in that report does it say anything about his failure to know right from wrong,” Horan said.

Malvo’s move scrambled the dynamics of his trial, now scheduled for Nov. 10. An insanity plea would in effect be an admission that Malvo had participated in the slayings.

But it also would aid the defense by allowing Malvo’s lawyers to fashion a coherent explanation of the teen’s actions -- and offer humanizing evidence that might persuade jurors not to vote for the death penalty if he is convicted.

“It’s a smart and logical move by the defense,” said William Fitzpatrick, a criminal defense lawyer who formerly worked as a prosecutor in neighboring Loudoun County, Va. “It allows them to claim that their client was a drone to Muhammad.”

But Horan said the defense team’s move would not force prosecutors to alter their trial strategies. “Whether he’s pleading straight not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity, we still have to prove the same set of facts,” the prosecutor said.

Malvo is charged in the Oct. 14 slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, who was shot to death as she and her husband approached their car in a parking garage outside a suburban Virginia Home Depot. Malvo and Muhammad also face charges in nine killings in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., during the shooting spree that terrorized the nation’s capital. The pair also has been linked to shootings in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Washington state.

It is less clear how Malvo’s plan to plead insanity could affect Muhammad’s trial, slated to start Tuesday.

Prosecutors could try to summon Malvo to testify, but such a move could hurt both sides. While prosecutors would be seeking unreliable testimony from a witness who says he is unbalanced, Muhammad’s defense lawyers would confront a youth who insists he was swayed by their client into joining the killing spree.

“Both sides have more to lose than they have to win by bringing Malvo in to testify,” said Mark Gardner, a defense lawyer who once served as commonwealth attorney in nearby Spotsylvania County.

Last week, Prince William County prosecutors tried to question Malvo during a pretrial hearing. As Malvo avoided Muhammad’s gaze, the teen’s lawyers advised him to refuse to answer any questions on the grounds that they might incriminate him. The courtroom encounter ended in a stalemate earlier this week, when Prince William Commonwealth Atty. Paul Ebert withdrew his motion asking Malvo to testify.

On Thursday, a judge in Muhammad’s case ruled separately that the older sniper suspect could not present mental health evidence in his defense. Prince William County Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. stripped Muhammad of that right because he had refused to meet with a forensic psychiatrist.

In Malvo’s proceedings, there have been clear signs in recent months that the young man’s lawyers would blame Muhammad’s domination of their client for his alleged involvement in the killings. Michael S. Arif, another lawyer for Malvo, said in June that Malvo was “under the spell of Muhammad.”

“Every movement was controlled by Muhammad,” Arif said at the time. “His diet was controlled; his thoughts were controlled; his reading was controlled. That absolutely changed his behavior.” Arif was not available for comment Thursday.

For the strategy to work, Malvo’s team will have to persuade jurors that the teenager either was overcome by a severe mental breakdown or that he was not competent to understand the criminal nature of his acts. If a jury finds him not guilty, Malvo would be committed to a mental facility until examiners pronounced him sane. Even then, he would still face criminal charges in Maryland and other jurisdictions where shootings took place.

Under Virginia law, Malvo would have to submit to more psychiatric evaluations, including an expert chosen by prosecutors, if he intends to plead insanity. Prosecutors will probably try to cross-examine Malvo’s private mental health examiners, Horan said Thursday.

“Hopefully, we can accomplish all of that by Nov. 10,” Horan said. “We’re working on a very short clock.”