Summary
U.S. Supreme Court case involving one of the notorious D.C. sniper’s claims that the four life without the possibility of parole sentences imposed upon him in Virginia as a teenager were unconstitutional and must be overturned. In the fall of 2002, 17-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo and his adult accomplice, John Muhammad, embarked upon a weeks long sniper shooting crime spree that terrorized the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Over a 20-day period, the pair randomly hunted down and killed 12 unsuspecting victims as they stood in parking lots, pumped gas, or innocently walked down the street. Malvo was charged as an adult and subsequently convicted of four counts of capital murder for the Virginia slayings. He was sentenced to four terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole. After Malvo’s convictions became final, the Supreme Court decided a series of cases involving the constitutionality of juvenile sentencing practices. In Miller v. Alabama, the Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the automatic imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile homicide offender. The sentencing court must provide the juvenile with the opportunity to present mitigating evidence of “youth and attendant characteristics” that may justify a lesser sentence. Montgomery v. Louisiana later held that Miller applies to cases retroactively. Malvo argues that because he never received a proceeding in which mitigating evidence of his youth was considered, his sentences must be reversed. CJLF joined the case to argue that Miller“s holding is limited to sentencing schemes that mandate life without parole for juvenile homicide offenders. Under Virginia law, the trial court had the discretion to order a lesser sentence for Malvo. State court judgments should not be reopened when a state’s sentencing scheme at the time of sentencing gave the trial court the opportunity to impose a less severe sentence. While the appeal was pending, the Virginia Legislature enacted a law making juvenile offenders sentenced to life in prison eligible for parole after serving 20 years of their sentence. The new law rendered the case against Malvo moot. Because of the new law, counsel for both sides filed a Rule 46.1 Stipulation of Dismissal. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition.
