{"id":85856,"date":"2018-12-17T13:02:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T18:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sentencing.net\/?p=85856"},"modified":"2019-11-05T15:54:32","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T20:54:32","slug":"domestic-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sentencing.net\/appeal\/domestic-terrorism","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Terrorism: Sentencing Appeal in the Infamous D.C. Sniper Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
April brought us the bomber who terrorized Austin, Texas, for two weeks with random mail-bomb attacks. That type of domestic terrorism, however, is nothing new.<\/p>\n
Domestic Terrorism: The D.C. Sniper Case in 2002<\/h2>\n
Rewind to October 2002 in the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia area. As you may recall, the so-called D.C. Sniper terrorized that entire region for three weeks. Everyone was on edge. Why? Because people who were simply doing everyday things \u2013 pumping gas, mowing the lawn, putting groceries into the trunk in a supermarket parking lot \u2013 became domestic terrorism targets. Indeed, the random shootings paralyzed the D.C. region, much like Austin was paralyzed before the bomber finally met his demise.<\/p>\n
Domestic Terrorism<\/p><\/div>\n
When all the facts were revealed in the D.C. Sniper case, two perpetrators were prosecuted \u2013 John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. It was later learned that the shootings were carried out, 14 in all, by the pair shooting at random people through a small hole in the trunk of a Blue Chevy Caprice. Muhammad was the mastermind of the deadly rampage and was much older than Malvo, who was 17 years old at the time. It appeared that Malvo behaved as some type of apprentice to the murderous Muhammad. Yet, Malvo was involved as the shooter in some of the killings.<\/p>\n
Muhammad ultimately received the death penalty for his domestic terrorism crimes. Malvo, however, was spared that fate. The jury in his case sentenced him to life without parole, rather than the only other choice of the death penalty. Recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions, however, may have given Malvo an opening for a credible sentencing appeal.<\/p>\n
Changes in Criminal Sentencing Law Since 2002<\/h2>\n
In 2002-2003, when the D.C. Sniper case was tried, mandatory life-without-parole sentences were in effect in most states, even for violent juvenile offenders. Malvo was a juvenile, 17, at the time of the D.C. Sniper crimes, and he was sentenced to life without parole, though it was not necessarily mandatory in his case.<\/p>\n