Attorneys for convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo will argue Wednesday that his six Montgomery County, Maryland, murder convictions should be overturned, WTOP has learned.
According to court records and sources familiar with the case, Malvo’s lawyers will petition Circuit Court Judge Sharon Burrell to overturn his 2006 convictions in the deaths of James Martin, Sonny Buchanan, Premkumar Walekar, Sarah Ramos, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, and Conrad Johnson.
In August 2022, Maryland’s Court of Appeals, now known as Maryland’s Supreme Court, determined that the Circuit Court must resent Malvo by the standards set by the United States Supreme Court.
Malvo was 17 years old when he and 41-year-old John Allen Muhammad launched three weeks of attacks in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia in October 2002. The attacks killed ten people and badly injured three others.
Since the appeals court’s 2022 decision, Judge Burrell has had recurring hearings to address the mechanics of Malvo’s resentencing for his Maryland crimes. Among the topics considered were the security challenges of moving Malvo from a Virginia supermax facility to the Montgomery County jail.
Malvo is currently serving four-lifetime sentences in Virginia. As previously reported by WTOP, he has been relocated from Virginia’s supermax jail, Red Onion State jail, to Keen Mountain Correctional Center.
Malvo would have to be transferred for resentencing if the governors of Maryland and Virginia agreed.
Malvo’s attorneys have maintained that he is constitutionally entitled to an in-person sentencing, and in November 2023, they filed a Motion to Vacate Plea Agreement.
“Unless the state is successful in its effort to have the governors and Maryland arrange for the transport of Mr. Malvo to Maryland for a new sentencing, he will be unable to allocate for a lesser sentence,” Michael Beach, the attorney representing the defense, wrote. “If that occurs, a material term of his plea agreement has been breached and is unenforceable and Mr. Malvo will then elect to withdraw his plea.”
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy stated in an opposing motion that “the defendant does not cite any authority for the proposition that the State bears the burden of producing the defendant for this resentencing.”
To quote McCarthy: “The Defense has two options available: he can waive his right to be physically present at the resentencing or he can wait until he is released from custody in Virginia.”
The husband of Montgomery County victim Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera has filed a motion opposing Malvo’s current convictions being overturned.
Attorney Victor Stone of the Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center said the defense’s claim that Malvo is entitled to an in-person punishment is erroneous. “The right to be present at sentencing is a due process right that is satisfied by a video remote appearance,” according to Stone.
WTOP is seeking information from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office on whether he would be prepared to have Malvo transported to Maryland to be resentenced for his crimes.
In 2017, Malvo filed a move to amend what he believed was an unconstitutional sentence under Maryland law, citing a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibiting mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders.
In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly overrode Governor Larry Hogan’s veto and removed life sentences without parole for juveniles. Virginia enacted a similar statute.
According to Maryland’s Juvenile Restoration Act, or JUVRA, those who have served at least 20 years of a sentence for a crime committed when they were under the age of 18 may make an application with the circuit court to have their sentence reduced.
Virginia rejected Malvo’s release in 2022, citing his continued risk to the community.