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Posted on 01/12/2003 11:11:14 AM PST by leadpenny
CHARM, GUILE MAKE EBERT A DEADLY FOE
Using country charm and legal guile, Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert has sent more men to death row than any other prosecutor.
By KARI PUGH
Minutes after announcing capital-murder indictments against sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, the man most likely to send one of them to death row skipped town.
Prince William County's top prosecutor slipped away "to the country" for the night--leaving a dozen reporters from around the world clamoring outside the courthouse and his voice mail clogged with 108 unanswered messages.
"I've just got to get away from all this," Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert complained in his trademark Southern mumble. "It's only gonna get worse from here."
The longtime lawyer and his hunting dog Nellie hopped into his brand-new pickup and headed for Coles Point in Westmoreland County, Ebert's favorite place in the world--besides the helm of his fishing boat.
As he made the 100-mile ride from Manassas that night, Ebert suspected what would come next.
Prosecutors from Maryland to Alabama wanted a piece of the man and teen suspected of gunning down as many 16 people in a cross-country killing spree.
Click for rest of article: Charm, guile make Ebert a deadly foe
EX-MARINE HORAN READY FOR LEGAL FIGHT
By PAMELA GOULD
Robert F. Horan Jr. isn't a man given to fits of depression, but when the Marines told him his services were no longer needed, Fairfax County's chief prosecutor went into a three-day funk.
"They told me being a Marine was something you did for life," he said during a recent interview, the sting of his retirement notice still apparent 16 years later.
Horan at 70 is a wiry man with a military bearing whose competitive fire burns strong. Adversaries remain wary of his knack for controlling a courtroom, and friends know a round of golf won't be a casual stroll across the links.
The father of three, who once spent Friday nights visiting the county's police substations and was known to challenge assistants to an occasional arm-wrestling contest, isn't letting up--regardless of his forced retirement after 27 years with the Marine Corps Reserves.
And as he undertakes the most high-profile prosecution of his career--that of teenage sniper suspect John Lee Malvo--the man who credits his beloved Marines with launching his legal career remains battle-ready.
Click for rest of article: Ex-Marine Horan ready for legal fight
"State law requires that murder occur during the commission of rape or robbery to become eligible as a capital offense. The higher court ruled that the rape and assault of Kristie Reed was a separate event from the killing of her sister, Stacie, and ordered a new trial.
Powell wrote a nasty letter to Ebert after the Supreme Court ruling, taunting the prosecutor with chilling details of his crime.
Thinking he could no longer face a death sentence, he described attempting to rape Stacie Reed before stabbing her and "stomping her throat."
When I didn't see her breathing anymore I left the room and got some iced tea and sat on the couch and smoked a cigarette. You know the rest of what happened after that point," Powell wrote.
He thanked Ebert for saving his life, calling the prosecutor a "punk" among a barrage of obscenities.
Ebert said it took him "about two minutes" to figure out Powell had just admitted to a capital offense--attempted rape in the commission of murder.
Powell is being retried this week on the amended charge.
"Of all the guys I've tried for murder--that's hundreds of them--I think he's the only guy who was absolutely proud of what he did," Horan said. "He was in effect going to teach the United States a lesson."
He thanked Ebert for saving his life, calling the prosecutor a "punk" among a barrage of obscenities.
Ebert said it took him "about two minutes" to figure out Powell had just admitted to a capital offense--attempted rape in the commission of murder.
In retrial, expect the "low IQ" defense.
My kind of guy!
Also, Horan prosecuted Kasi. He presented such a compelling case that I think it took the jurors more time to shuffle back and forth to the deliberation room than to vote on their verdict.
I have tremendous confidence that justice will be served.
He'd have pardoned the shooters, but the Bushmaster rifle would have been melted down...
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