Feds File 20-Count Indictment Against Snipers; Seek Death Penalty

cnn ^ | cnn

[FreeTheHostages]

Feds join sniper case Federal authorities filed a 20-count criminal complaint today against sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad. His alleged accomplice, John Lee Malvo, was not named because he is a juvenile. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the "ultimate sanction" -- the death penalty -- should be applied in the case.

[FreeTheHostages]

Federal writs of habeas corpus ad prosequendum are *bigger* than state writs via the Supremacy Clause. Translation: Feds get the body first if they insist upon it.

[FreeTheHostages]

That is to say, the feds can prosecute first if they want because their Article III court writs for the bodies to prosecute 'em are bigger than the state writs, as the law is interpreted by the courts.

So if the Maryland liberal prosecutor, Doug Gansler, wants a fight for the body, he just got one. Now is about the time he should stop doing press conferences and work this out quietly and internally within the prosecutorial community.

[Cyber Liberty]

The feds need to stay out for now. They're gonna screw up 13 easy cases if they start tramping around.

[scooby321]

Feds will give it to Va

Maryland Needs to Step Down

[FreeTheHostages]

Disagree: they're going to get the death penalty. With one possible twist which might prove you right: someone said that the way the Virginia death penalty law is written, the filing of federal charges could interfere with its imposition. If true, that would be a problem. Haven't researched this.

Re screwing things up, don't underestimate the Maryland (very liberal) prosecutor regarding screwing things up. He has quite a record in that area.

[FreeTheHostages]

See, I like that idea.

My first choice might be the state of Virginia. If the feds are just grabbing the football to bring it to Virginia, I say hooray.

[Cyber Liberty]

My understanding is that if the feds file the charges, then VA's constitution requires them to throw out their entire case to avoid double jeopardy.

[FreeTheHostages]

Per CNN, feds coming in could be a good way to get it to Virginia. News article reports:

Because the suspects are already in federal custody in Baltimore on preliminary charges, the Justice Department is in a position to decide who will be allowed to prosecute the suspected snipers first.

"Right now, everybody is just working together to sort this out as to where the best jurisdiction is, to seek the just punishment in this case, which obviously is capital punishment," said Kirby Porter, Hanover County, Virginia's commonwealth's attorney.

[FreeTheHostages]

Interesting. But of course you mean not if the feds file charges, but if Double Jeopary "attaches" -- which happens when the jury is sworn. So the feds filing charges -- if it's just a prelude to passing the case to Virginia before a federal jury is sworn -- that could be good. That could be just a way to transfer to the case to Virginia. Which has *much better law and juries* for death penalty and for prosecution.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

There was that terrorist bill passed after Sept 11th that will allow for both these men to be executed, no matter what state they committed the crime in. They are going to be executed, period.

[Cyber Liberty]

Works for me. Let's see what happens.

[FreeTheHostages]

"Because the suspects are already in federal custody in Baltimore on preliminary charges, the Justice Department is in a position to decide"

I've had occasion in the past to do legal research in this area and CNN is not quite correct. It is not the case that possesion is 9/10th of the law here -- between states alone, that's the rule. Whoever has the body first gets to prosecute it, generally -- although under principles of comity this point rarely gets litigated. But the feds get to decide where the body goes not because they have it now, but because if the question were to be litigated, everyone would agree that the "writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum" when issued by the federal government takes precedence. For you lawyers out there, there's actually law on this! So that's why/how the feds would decide.

I would hope they would decide to give the bodies to VA for prosecution. Virginia juries will know what to do with these 2. I can NOT over-emphasize how incredibly LIBERAL Montgomery County juries are and how liberal the prosecutor, Doug Gansler, is.

[FreeTheHostages]

Yes, you're right, the Patriot Act might apply here. But to kill 'em, the jury has to convict. Any Virginia jury would convict. I regret to report that we cannot assume Montgomery county jury would vote to convict and/or recommend the death penalty.

But I get your broader point. With patience, sooner or later, justice will be achieved. And, as the AG notes, justice in this case is the death penalty.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

No matter what happens, unless the Nation of Islam hides them (if for some sick reason they are not convicted) then IMO they are dead men walking.

[Congressman Billybob]

The interesting wrinkle from the People's Republic of Maryland today is that States' Attorney Sandra O'Conner, who has proscuted more death penalty cases than any other SA in Md., points out the Md. death penalty law DOES NOT APPLY TO SERIAL KILLERS. The Md. Court of Appeals (which is that state's name for its "Supreme Court") has already ruled that the Md. death penalty law does NOT apply to someone who kills one person at a time, such as John Muhammad.

So this reveals that Governor Glendening and his Atty Genl, KKT (now running for Governor) are both as dumb as a bag of hammers on the subject of Md's death penalty law.

It will be an utter waste of time and resources to try either of the murderers in any jurisdiction that does not permit the death penalty. They will just have to be tried again in one that does provide for the death penalty.

So, thanks to the morons in the Md. legislature (Democrats, of course) who are squeamish about the death penalty and sloppy in writing the law, there will be no trial in Maryland. That, of course, is a huge blow to the political ambitions of the Montgomery States' Attorney, who filed the first charges without consulting with the other jurisdictions which had citizens killed or wounded.

Bottom line: looks like the killers will get justice, but not in Maryland. And it also looks like they shot a final and fatal hole in the ambitions of KKT to become Governor, with no qualifications other than her sex and her middle name.

Congressman Billybob

A Dispatch from the Front, Plus Some Comments on Norwegian Charisma

Click for "to Restore Trust in America"

[soxfan]

The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star reports today that under a terrorism statute in effect in VA, both of them could receive the death penalty, even if they were ACQUITTED(!) of capital murder; and without having to prove beyond a reasonable doubt which one actually pulled the trigger. All that is required is proof of an "intent to intimidate the public at large".

[Dan from Michigan]

The Feds should stay the hell out of this. This case belongs to Virginia, Alabama, or Maryland.

I prefer Bama or VA of the three.

[FreeTheHostages]

WOW. Thanks for the post. Virginia takes no prisoners.

[FreeTheHostages]

"The Feds should stay the hell out of this. This case belongs to Virginia, Alabama, or Maryland."

Suppose we all agree on this. Then here's a trickier federalism question: if the U.S. Attorney General has filed these charges for the sole purpose of delivering the body to the state of Virginia -- really as a legal artifice to get the death penalty state to go first -- do you approve or disapprove of that?

I think that's a tougher question. My question assumes, of course, that the feds aren't going to insist on actually prosecuting first.

[tax hater]

I wonder why none of you "headline scrutinizers" found the great error: There was no "indictment"-- Grand Juries do that. There was a "complaint." That can be dropped easily. The feds did that clearly to supercede the states and kip him in their custody. Clever trick!!!