ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) _ A man convicted of taking part as a teenager in deadly sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington area has lost a bid for a new sentence in Maryland.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Greenberg said in a ruling dated Tuesday that Lee Boyd Malvo’s “physical, mental and emotional state” and the influence of John Allen Muhammad was given full consideration before he was sentenced to life without parole for six counts of first-degree murder.
Malvo was convicted in Maryland, and in Virginia, of playing a role when he was 17 in the 2002 shootings that killed 10 people and wounded three.
Malvo’s attorneys say his sentences should be thrown out because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles is unconstitutional.
But Greenberg said that the original sentencing judge had the discretion whether to sentence Malvo to a life sentence or some other sentence. And that the sentencing judge “clearly concluded that (Malvo) was among the most uncommon of juvenile offenders deserving of a life time of imprisonment.”
Greenberg writes that under Maryland law, Malvo also could have requested a three-judge panel to review his sentence within five years. Malvo filed initial paperwork to begin that process but never formerly requested the review.
A federal judge has ruled that Malvo is entitled to new sentencing hearings in Virginia, a decision that Virginia prosecutors have appealed.
Muhammad, his partner in the shootings, was executed in 2009.
WTOP’s Amanda Iacone contributed to this report.
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