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Lawyers: D.C. Sniper Muhammad Beaten Badly as a Child
Associated Press ^ | April 25, 2008 | MATTHEW BARAKAT

Posted on 04/27/2008 12:29:47 PM PDT by george76

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad was regularly whipped with hose pipes and electrical cords and beaten with hammers and sticks by family members during a brutal childhood, according to lawyers trying to save Muhammad from the death penalty.

The lawyers argued in a federal court petition filed this week that the jurors who sent Muhammad to death row for the 2002 sniper spree were improperly barred from hearing most of the evidence of the harsh life Muhammad faced as a child.

Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo , were convicted in 2003 of a random killing spree that left 10 people dead in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia over a three-week span in October 2002 that terrorized the nation's capital region. Muhammad was sentenced to death and Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.

Muhammad's brothers and sisters would have testified that they and Muhammad were regularly beaten by aunts, uncles and grandparents while growing up in Louisiana, when he was known as John Allen Williams.

(Excerpt) Read more at wjla.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: abuse; dcsniper; malvo; muhammad; muslim; muslims

1 posted on 04/27/2008 12:29:47 PM PDT by george76
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To: george76

Too bad.


2 posted on 04/27/2008 12:31:16 PM PDT by DB
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To: george76

Hang them all.


3 posted on 04/27/2008 12:31:19 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: george76

guess what.. lots of people have crappy childhoods and don’t grow up to be murderers or rapists or criminals of any kind.. lots of abused children grow up to be contributing members of society... this is not an excuse for outrageous crimes.


4 posted on 04/27/2008 12:31:53 PM PDT by Awestruck (All the usual suspects)
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To: george76

And this means? Does this mean a person gets a free pass for cold-blooded murdering innocent human beings? Ah, no!


5 posted on 04/27/2008 12:32:32 PM PDT by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: george76

It’s too bad. It really is too bad. But the fact that you’ve been mistreated doesn’t earn you leniency when you go mistreat others. This man murdered ten human beings - by his own choice. He deserves the consequences of that choice.


6 posted on 04/27/2008 12:32:44 PM PDT by Irish Rose (Will work for chocolate.)
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To: SunkenCiv; Corin Stormhands; CajunConservative; BillF; Angelwood
Last year, Maryland's appellate appeals court rejected Muhammad's request for a new trial in a sharply worded unanimous decision.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals compared Muhammad to Jack the Ripper, saying he terrorized the Washington region in a fashion similar to ...the notorious Victorian serial killer.

.

7 posted on 04/27/2008 12:33:43 PM PDT by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

many people have had terrible childhoods....it does not excuse them of cold blooded murder of innocents!!!

let the families of the victims have a say in the sentencing!!!


8 posted on 04/27/2008 12:35:26 PM PDT by nyyankeefan
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To: george76

Too bad they didn’t beat Muhammed hard enough to make him room temperature.

The son of a b*tch lived into a very healthy adulthood as a mass murderer of infidel non-muslims.


9 posted on 04/27/2008 12:36:25 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember (When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.)
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To: george76

As an evil little monster, I am sure Mohammed deserved to be beaten.


10 posted on 04/27/2008 12:37:46 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember (When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.)
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To: FormerACLUmember
Precisely.

Muhammed murdered those people because they were non-Muslims, not because he was smacked around as a kid.

The Black Muslim was of clear conscience when he murdered 10 Americans, and he was of clear mind when he tracked them and picked them off from the concealment of his car's trunkspace.

Burn him alive, and then piss on the ashes.


11 posted on 04/27/2008 12:42:40 PM PDT by Prole ("American Citizens should not fear the government. The government should fear American Citizens.")
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To: george76

12 posted on 04/27/2008 12:42:44 PM PDT by wastedyears (The US Military is what goes Bump in the night.)
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To: george76

Well, that’s sad. I hope they execute him as gently as possible.


13 posted on 04/27/2008 12:43:28 PM PDT by rogue yam
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To: george76

as a society, we have rules. some put themselves so far outside what is allowable, that the rest of us want them gone, and quietly. we don’t send them somewhere to be rehabilitated, we execute them, and are done with them.


14 posted on 04/27/2008 12:44:08 PM PDT by 4buttons
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To: george76

Millions of children survived Hitler trying to kill them. Most of them grew up to become doctors, teachers, parents, helpers of humanity.


15 posted on 04/27/2008 12:47:17 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: rogue yam

Post of the Day.


16 posted on 04/27/2008 12:48:00 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: rogue yam

LMAO!


17 posted on 04/27/2008 12:51:01 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: george76
Muhammad's brothers and sisters would have testified that they and Muhammad were regularly beaten by aunts, uncles and grandparents while growing up in Louisiana

I take it none of his siblings grew up to be serial killers after all those beatings. Maybe it was his conversion to Islam that pushed him over the edge?

18 posted on 04/27/2008 12:52:13 PM PDT by OCC
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To: george76

I doubt very much any of the people he murdered beat him, sharpen the needle!


19 posted on 04/27/2008 12:53:37 PM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: george76

Obviously not hard enough. Maybe he needs a real beating now.


20 posted on 04/27/2008 1:02:39 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: george76

Aw.. poor man.. NOW hang em high..


21 posted on 04/27/2008 1:08:24 PM PDT by hosepipe (CAUTION: This propaganda is laced with hyperbole....)
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To: george76
And this is relevant because?

The lawyer should be disbarred for wasting the Court's time.

ML/NJ

22 posted on 04/27/2008 1:31:29 PM PDT by ml/nj
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To: george76

Oh,yeah, that excuses him alright. It is ok to kill people if you were beaten as a child. What BS.


23 posted on 04/27/2008 1:36:06 PM PDT by calex59
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To: george76
Muhammad's brothers and sisters would have testified that they and Muhammad were
regularly beaten by aunts, uncles and grandparents while growing up in Louisiana,
when he was known as John Allen Williams.

What do they mean would have testified? Wasn't it a big enough case for them
to get involved in at the time? This is total BS

24 posted on 04/27/2008 1:38:23 PM PDT by ThreePuttinDude ()... Cevapi & Slivovitz for everyone....()
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To: george76

Here comes the “poor beaten child” defense ....


25 posted on 04/27/2008 1:39:53 PM PDT by SkyDancer ("I Believe In Law Until It Interferes With Justice")
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To: george76
I was beaten with hands, fists, belts, hairbrushes, glass ashtrays, lamps, hell I once has a guitar broken over my head!

I never once in my 50 years on this planet intentionally harmed anyone.

This defense gets quite old with me!!!!

26 posted on 04/27/2008 1:43:53 PM PDT by poobear (tagline is on a coffee break!)
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To: george76
Muhammad's brothers and sisters would have testified that they and Muhammad were regularly beaten by aunts, uncles and grandparents while growing up in Louisiana, when he was known as John Allen Williams.

Why didn't his brothers and sisters turn into mass murdering Muslims?

27 posted on 04/27/2008 1:46:33 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: george76

Not badly enough, apparently.


28 posted on 04/27/2008 1:47:12 PM PDT by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
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To: george76

Sorry muslim pederast. It’s time for you to die. When you do, we’ll laugh and mock your supporters.


29 posted on 04/27/2008 1:47:41 PM PDT by Dagnabitt (Jihad is for wankers.)
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To: george76
Sad story, I'm sure all his trauma will be cured with a simple injection.I wonder what those victims felt as they were gunned down going about their everyday lives?I think it's so funny that the anti death penalty people never want to bring the victims up at all.
30 posted on 04/27/2008 1:47:52 PM PDT by bonehead4freedom (I haven't left the Republicans ,they have left me!)
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To: george76

Show that little violin.


31 posted on 04/27/2008 2:09:17 PM PDT by boomop1
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To: george76
Here's the weird thing: don't know about the older guy, but the YOUNGER one had a perfectly fine childhood. The parents bent over backwards to try and set this brat straight, but he was hell-bent on bullying and bothering everyone around him.

The FBI shrink that evaluated him wrote a whole book about it; the boy's legal team tried to make it like he was juuuust fine before the dastardly old guy came along and ruined him, but that was 100% fiction.

The younger brat was just a reallllllly bad egg, and was determined to do some seriously evil stuff.

Oh a little known fact --he (the younger brat) almost did manage to escape from the FBI; he was in a holding cell and managed to displace ceiling paneling. He had crawled 1/2 out the building b4 the authorities knew what was up.

32 posted on 04/27/2008 2:15:27 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: george76

I don’t care if he was forced to sodomize the family dog. NO excuse.

Next.........................


33 posted on 04/27/2008 2:19:26 PM PDT by RightOnline
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To: george76

The amazing ability of lawyers to fabricate the truth is an entertaining sideshow for most trials of mass murderers.


34 posted on 04/27/2008 2:35:53 PM PDT by Neoliberalnot ((Hallmarks of Liberalism: Ingratitude and Envy))
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To: rogue yam
Well, that’s sad. I hope they execute him as gently as possible.

Ten shots from a bushmaster (one for each victim he slaughtered), at one yard. At least I think it's 10. If I'm wrong, adjust the shot count accordingly.

I live really close to where he did some of his dirty work. I'd much prefer Vlad the Impaler carry out the execution. But that's just me. -)

35 posted on 04/27/2008 2:41:28 PM PDT by wvguy (Montani semper liberi)
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To: george76

Sorry to hear this as I am sorry to hear of any abuse of kids.
As an adult he killed folks and terrified a whole area of the country.
Hang him.


36 posted on 04/27/2008 2:43:09 PM PDT by Joe Boucher (An enemy of Islam)
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To: DB

“John Allen Muhammad was regularly whipped with hose pipes and electrical cords and beaten with hammers and sticks by family members during a brutal childhood,”

Good,they sould of it im harder.


37 posted on 04/27/2008 2:56:52 PM PDT by bilhosty
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To: george76; Abundy; Albion Wilde; AlwaysFree; AnnaSASsyFR; bayliving; BFM; cindy-true-supporter; ...

Maryland “Freak State” PING!


38 posted on 04/27/2008 3:29:15 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (To the liberal, there's no sacrifice too big for somebody else to make. --FReeper popdonnelly)
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To: george76

So, are his brothers and sisters all murderers too? If not, what does that have to do with anything?

How many people have abusive childhood’s and still don’t kill anyone?


39 posted on 04/27/2008 3:29:16 PM PDT by kcvl
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To: ThreePuttinDude
Millette's ruling did not technically ban the testimony of Muhammad's brothers and sisters, but trial attorneys Peter Greenspun and Jonathan Shapiro did not want to put the evidence on without testimony from their mental-health expert, Mark Cunningham, to explain the neglect's effect on Muhammad's development, according to the brief.

The appellate lawyers said in their brief that "Muhammad apparently did not want to acknowledge his horrific childhood" and planned to deny any abuse, either on the witness stand himself or in interviews with the government's mental-health expert.

40 posted on 04/27/2008 3:32:28 PM PDT by kcvl
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To: george76; AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...

He should feel right at home in prison, then. Thanks geo.


41 posted on 04/27/2008 3:48:03 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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To: george76

So if the parents are alive, prosecute them for it. If they did this level of abuse and can be proven guilty, give them the death penalty, too.


42 posted on 04/27/2008 3:49:04 PM PDT by Marie2 (I used to be disgusted. . .now I try to be amused.)
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To: poobear
I was beaten with hands, fists, belts, hairbrushes, glass ashtrays, lamps, hell I once has (sic)a guitar broken over my head!

Are you my long lost relative? My Mother busted my guitar over my head one night...didn't hurt too much but sure made a mess and the guitar was expensive to replace.

43 posted on 04/27/2008 4:43:15 PM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: vetvetdoug

“...didn’t hurt too much but sure made a mess and the guitar was expensive to replace.”

Yeah, I hear you. I’m still ticked about the guitar and it’s been over 37 years.

At least we can laugh about it now!


44 posted on 04/28/2008 3:20:38 AM PDT by poobear (tagline is on a coffee break!)
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To: george76

Maybe the defense team needs to bring in Rev. Wright to argue that John Allen Muhammed was so oppressed by American society that he had to bring the chickens home to roost.

It’s too bad we can’t make the SOB suffer, he’ll get a nice clean execution in oh so many more years, unless the liberals save him.


45 posted on 04/28/2008 9:10:17 PM PDT by Enchante (Obama: All you dumb, bitter "typical white people" must learn to say "God D--n America!")
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To: george76

Ah, does anyone really believe this? Even if true, so what?
What did his victims do in their childhood to deserve what he did?


46 posted on 04/28/2008 11:48:19 PM PDT by taxesareforever (We'll never forget Matt Maupin and his service to our country.)
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To: bilhosty

I was occasionally spanked as a child. So that justifies and excuses my robbing a bank.....or at least farting in public.


47 posted on 04/29/2008 12:03:09 AM PDT by OldArmy52 (Vote Dem: vote the Clinton/Obama/McCain ticket)
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To: george76

So go arrest his rotten relatives, if they’re still alive. Heck, even let him take a swing or two at them before he gets the needle, if you like.


48 posted on 04/30/2008 2:00:41 PM PDT by steve-b (Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense. --RAH)
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To: george76

Ok, ok, but did he eat too many Twinkies???


49 posted on 04/30/2008 2:05:06 PM PDT by Gator113 (McCain will be the best democrat President this country has ever elected.)
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