Lee Boyd Malvo's efforts to overturn his murder convictions in Montgomery County have been met with a judge's refusal. Malvo, infamous for his role as a teen in the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks alongside John Allen Muhammad, sought to vacate his 2006 plea agreement but was denied, according to WJLA. Although a 2012 Supreme Court ruling necessitates Malvo's resentencing due to his juvenile status at the time of the crimes, Montgomery County Circuit Court ruled against voiding the convictions.
Malvo's legal team was expected in court Wednesday ahead of his December resentencing, as Maryland's highest court ruled in 2022 for Malvo's resentencing and the potential opening for a revised punishment for the crimes he committed at age 17. Now held at Virginia's Keen Mountain Correctional Center, Malvo is serving several life sentences, as reported by FOX 5 DC, and faced denial from Virginia's parole board in 2022.
A Montgomery County judge has denied the motion to vacate his Maryland convictions, despite arguments that the sentences were illegal under the Eighth Amendment, as they failed to consider his youth and potential for transient immaturity during sentencing. While Malvo's lawyer pointed out the Constitutional concern, the victims' families requested any resentencing be delayed until after his Virginia sentences were served, as per WUSA9.
Malvo's involvement with Muhammad, a man of significantly older age, culminated in a series of sniper-style shootings that terrorized the D.C. area over a span of weeks, resulting in 10 deaths. John Allen Muhammad was executed in 2009, while Malvo, who voluntary testified against Muhammad in 2006, remains incarcerated. "Every time there was another shooting, it was a really sick, unexplainable feeling, really," described retired Supervisory Special Agent April Carroll in a 2022 interview with WUSA9. Following the judge's decision, resentencing has been delayed indefinitely.
