CrimLaw

Sniper: Malvo:

(1) The NYTimes pays homage to the judge.

The article also contains the following exchange:

Mr. Horan, the prosecutor, is already growing exasperated with the defense's case, though it is only getting started. He objects often, arguing that evidence about Mr. Malvo's childhood cannot tell the jury anything valuable about his culpability for his acknowledged role in the sniper shootings.

"I understand," Mr. Horan asked a witness who had testified about the strict discipline Mr. Malvo had been subjected to, "that in Jamaica if you misbehave as a child, you get a beating."

The witness, Lloyd Barrett, agreed.

"Have you ever lived with the Irish?" Mr. Horan asked.

Mr. Barrett looked mystified.

Mr. Cooley, in a news conference, expressed a sort of sympathy for his adversary.

"When we think of adjectives to describe Mr. Horan," he said, "patience is probably not No. 1 on the list."

Ouch.

(3) Subpoenaed: A Washington man has been subpoenaed but the big question for this week is whether Muhammad will testify.

(4) A quick description of the difference between the prosecution's case and the Defense's case:

Defence attorneys contend Malvo is innocent by reason of insanity, thoroughly brainwashed by Muhammad. Their strategy so far has included testimony showing a dramatic change in Malvo after he met Muhammad in 2000, when Malvo's mother left him to fend for himself on the island of Antigua.
. . .
Prosecutors, by contrast, portray a cold-blooded killer who functioned in concert with Muhammad and was the triggerman in most of the 13 sniper shootings in and around the US capital.

(5) Describing the constant disruptions in Malvo's early life.

(6) An article which describes the tapes and some of their stranger moments:

"Can you get them to bring me something? Raisins."

"Let me see if I can find some. Just plain raisins?" Boyle asked.

"Plain raisins, no sugar on them," he responded. He later explained the benefits of a grape fast that might last three to five days.

"Well, it cleans your body out. . . . It's an antioxidant. . . . Grapes fill you up. Ever try eating five pounds of grapes for a meal?"

Later in the interrogation, Malvo explained that health and physical stamina were imperative for him and Muhammad to carry out the shootings because any distraction might cause them to stray from a particular plan. For that reason, Malvo said, he supplemented his diet with vitamins and minerals.

"There's no room for you not to feel well," he told Boyle. "There's no reason for me to fall on the battlefield. Your soldiers are strong. They're not ill."

(7) The judge let reporters see the car.

(8) High school students have been watching the trial.