Cameras barred from teen sniper suspect's hearings
By The Associated Press
01.28.03
FAIRFAX, Va. — Cameras will not be permitted in the courtroom for the case against sniper suspect Lee Boyd (aka John Lee) Malvo, a judge has decided.
Virginia law allows cameras in the courtroom at the discretion of the judge. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Jane Roush, who will preside over Malvo’s capital murder trial, decided yesterday that she will not allow cameras for the time being, although she left open the possibility that she will change her mind later on.
Roush’s ruling bars both still and TV cameras.
The Radio-Television News Directors Association, a coalition of broadcasters, is considering filing a legal motion asking the judge to allow TV cameras in the courtroom, said association President Barbara Cochran.
“The entire Washington area was victimized during that three-week period, and there is a high level of interest,” she said. “The most accurate way for people to see these proceedings ... is through cameras in the courtroom.”
Meanwhile, Roush today set Nov. 10 for the start of Malvo’s trial. Malvo is accused of killing FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Home Depot store. Franklin was shot through the head Oct. 14 as she was loading items into the trunk of her car.
Defense lawyers protested that the date was too soon and said it would be impossible to be ready by then.
The defense said the trial could last up to 12 weeks; the prosecution estimated three weeks.
Malvo’s alleged accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, is scheduled to go on trial in Prince William County in October. The judge there has ruled against allowing TV cameras, but he is permitting a still camera. The RTNDA filed a brief in that case, but its argument for TV cameras was unsuccessful.
The two have been accused of shooting 19 people, killing 13 and wounding five in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.