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"He told me, 'Wasn't that smart?' " Mr. Dancy said. "It made
me mad. ...
Earl Lee Dancy, Jr., American patriot
The Washington
Times
www.washingtontimes.com
By S.A. Miller
THE
WASHINGTON TIMES
Published December 4, 2003
CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- The judge in the Lee Boyd
Malvo sniper trial yesterday barred defense attorneys from introducing a
letter their client had written that witnesses described as a cry for help
to escape the control of John Allen Muhammad before last year's sniper
attacks.
Fairfax County Circuit Judge Jane
Marum Roush sustained a prosecution objection that the letter was hearsay
evidence and thus inadmissible.
Fairfax County
Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. argued that the letter was no
different from the spoken words of the sniper suspect, which under the
rules of evidence can be allowed only if the defendant testifies to them.
Defense attorneys said later they are
considering other strategies to introduce the letter, but that the ruling
alone would not make or break their case. They also said the letter's
admissibility would not be the deciding factor in whether Mr. Malvo
testifies.
A decision on whether to put Mr.
Malvo, 18, on the witness stand is expected Monday.
Still, the judge's decision seemed to rattle
the defense.
"It was disturbing," said Michael
S. Arif, a lead attorney on the Malvo defense team. "It was not a ruling
that we anticipated."
Judge Roush also
sustained repeated objections by the prosecution that stopped defense
witnesses from testifying about the content of the letter. The judge
allowed witnesses to testify only about their reactions to the letter.
"I felt he was crying out for help," said
Muhammad's sister-in-law, Shelia Anne Tezano, who received the letter
after Muhammad and the defendant visited her family in Baton Rouge, La.,
in the summer of 2002. "I felt that in my heart, and that is the truth."
Mr. Malvo wrote the letter to Muhammad's
niece, LaToria Williams, after spending a few days in Baton Rouge just
months before the beginning of the October 2002 sniper attacks in the
Washington area that left 10 dead and three wounded.
Muhammad, 42, was convicted last month in the
sniper shootings.
In the letter, Mr. Malvo
purportedly expresses fear that he would have to sacrifice himself for
Muhammad, whom Mr. Malvo considered his surrogate father and his leader.
Arguing against the prosecution's objection,
Mr. Arif said the letter demonstrated the defendant's state of mind just
prior to the sniper attacks and supports the insanity defense that Mr.
Malvo had been "taken over by John Muhammad."
Mr. Malvo's attorneys are trying to convince
the jury that their client is not guilty by reason of insanity, saying he
was indoctrinated into Muhammad's "extreme brand of Islam" and was under
his complete control when he took part in the assassination-style
slayings.
Witness Earl Lee Dancy Jr. described Mr. Malvo
yesterday as somebody who held a grudge against American society.
"He was angry about it," said Mr. Dancy, a
friend of Muhammad's who spent extended time with Mr. Malvo in the two
years preceding the sniper attacks. "He didn't like white people."
Though the sniper victims included
blacks, whites, Hispanics and an Indian man, Mr. Malvo's attorneys say
Muhammad convinced their client that the sniper attacks were part of a
social war and brainwashed him to serve as a child soldier in the
conflict.
Mr. Dancy also testified that
Muhammad admired the terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
"He told me, 'Wasn't
that smart?' " Mr. Dancy said. "It made me mad. ... He actually acted
very excited."
Mr. Dancy also said he twice accompanied Muhammad and Mr.
Malvo to a gun range where Muhammad instructed the defendant on shooting a
rifle. On cross-examination, Mr. Dancy said Muhammad
was a poor shot and that Mr. Malvo appeared to be the superior marksman.
Mr. Dancy also said he saw Muhammad and Mr.
Malvo working closely together while playing video and computer games that
simulated commando-style warfare.
The defense
plans to present testimony by mental health professionals, perhaps as soon
as today , that Muhammad used the games as training tools to desensitize
Mr. Malvo to killing people.
The defense is
expected to call a mental health professional tomorrow who will testify
about the use of the movie "The Matrix" to reportedly brainwash Mr. Malvo.
Mr. Dancy's wife, Maria, testified that the
teenager was rude and accused her of picking on him because he was black.
Mrs. Dancy, who is Hispanic, said Mr. Malvo would take offense to doing
such chores as taking out the garbage.
Mr.
Malvo faces the death penalty on two counts of capital murder in the Oct.
14, 2002, fatal shooting of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Home
Deport store in Falls Church. One count is under Virginia's new
antiterrorism law, the other under a serial-killer law. He also is charged
with using a firearm in commission of a felony.
A Virginia Beach jury last week recommend a
death sentence for Muhammad after convicting him on identical murder and
gun charges for the Oct. 9, 2002, slaying of Dean Harold Meyers, 53, at a
Manassas gas station. Muhammad also was convicted of conspiracy.
As in the Muhammad trial, the prosecutors in
Mr. Malvo's trial have linked the defendant to multiple sniper attacks to
win a conviction on the terrorism and serial-killer charges.
Copyright � 2003 News World
Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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