June 20
VIRGINIA:
Malvo jurors say infighting over death penalty split them
In Virginia Beach, 2 jurors in the trial of sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo
said deliberations broke down into rancorous infighting as jurors split
over whether Malvo deserved the death penalty.
"I hope I never see some of those people on the jury again," Susan
Schriever said as part of a panel discussion at the Virginia State Bar's
annual meeting Friday.
Schriever said jurors began the 7-week trial with a feeling of fellowship
but started swearing at each other under their breath as they struggled to
reach a decision on punishment for the teenager.
Schriever, who initially voted for the death penalty, said several other
female jurors were looking for a reason to forgive Malvo. Schriever said
she finally gave in and compromised on a sentence of life in prison.
"I wondered, 'Did you see the same trial that I saw? Did you see the same
evidence?'" Schriever said.
The Rev. Jim Wolfcale, the jury foreman, said that he tried to encourage
civility and set ground rules for deliberating but that it all "began to
slowly unravel."
"It really, really did come down to whether you believed in the death
penalty or not," Wolfcale said.
Malvo was convicted in December of the murder of FBI analyst Linda
Franklin at a Fairfax County Home Depot as part of the Washington-area
sniper slayings in October 2002 that left 10 people dead.
His accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, was convicted of murdering Dean
Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station and was sentenced to death. He is
set to be arraigned Tuesday in Fairfax County in the Franklin slaying.
Wolfcale, pastor of Atlantic Shores Baptist Church, the largest Protestant
congregation in South Hampton Roads, said he went back and forth during
the Malvo deliberations before finally settling on the death penalty.
He said the 2 opposing groups never wavered in their opinions until the
end, when the death penalty proponents gave in.
Schriever said she is still bothered by the jury's decision.
"I respect their point of view," Schriever said of her fellow jurors. "I
just don't understand their point of view."
(source: Associated Press)
