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Malvos defense tries to discredit taped police interrogation { November 24 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Malvo's defense tries to discredit taped police interrogation
By JOHN HOPKINS AND TONY GERMANOTTA, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 24, 2003
Last updated: 12:39 PM
CHESAPEAKE — The defense team for sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo worked this morning to try to discredit his taped interrogation by police, pointing out inaccurate details he supplied investigators.
On the tape, Malvo said he shot one victim in the chest when the victim was actually shot in the back. He told investigators a 13-year-old victim was shot in the back when he was shot in the chest area. He said the murder weapons were always left behind at the scene after the shootings. No weapons were ever found at the shootings.
Craig S. Cooley, one of Malvo’s defense attorneys, brought out the inaccurate statements during the cross-examination of Detective June Boyle, a homicide investigator with the Fairfax County Police Department. Boyle interrogated Malvo and obtained the alleged confession, which was played to jurors Friday and today.
Cooley has said Malvo gave the false confession in an attempt to protect his accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, a 42-year-old man whom the teen referred to as “father’’ although they are not related. Malvo was unaware this morning that Muhammad had been sentenced to death.
Today is the 10th day of the capital murder trial for Malvo in Chesapeake Circuit Court. The 18-year-old Jamaican national is charged with three felonies related to the Oct. 14, 2002, killing of Linda Franklin, a 47-year-old FBI analyst who was shot in the head outside a Home Depot in Falls Church.
Malvo has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges. If convicted, he could be given the death penalty.
Muhammad was convicted in Virginia Beach Circuit Court last week. The same jury that convicted him recommended today that he be executed for the crimes.
In all, the two men are accused of killing 10 people and wounding three others during a 23-days period last fall in and around Washington, D.C.
The prosecution, expected to rest today, has called nearly 90 witnesses and introduced more than 220 pieces of evidence. The evidence against Malvo included the alleged confession and his DNA and fingerprints on the murder weapon, a Bushmaster .223-calibre rifle.
Malvo’s DNA and fingerprints also were found on extortion notes left behind at some crime scenes. A Baltimore prison guard also testified that during a jail-house conversation Malvo spelled out his role in the killings.
The prosecution showed jurors the car in which Malvo and Muhammad were sleeping when they were captured at a Maryland rest stop Oct. 24, 2002. The blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice was modified to allow a rifle to be shot from a hole in the closed trunk.
Before the trial began today, Malvo’s defense team was warned by Fairfax County Circuit Judge Jane M. Roush about making public comments outside the courtroom. At the end of each day, Malvo’s defense attorneys have made themselves available for questions from news reporters.
Fairfax County Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Morrogh objected today to some of the defense team’s comments during those interviews. After Friday’s hearing, in which Malvo’s taped confession was play, the defense team told reporters that the confession was inaccurate and a false account of the killings by Malvo in order to protect Muhammad.
Morrogh said he did not want comments to the press to jeopardize the trial.
Roush said she would not issue a gag order but asked the defense to be cautious in its comments.
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