Malvo lawyers' request for experts is rejected

Too early in case for Va. to pay for psychiatrist, others, judge decides

By Andrea F. Siegel | Sun Staff

November 20, 2002

Lawyers for 17-year-old sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo failed in a Virginia courtroom yesterday in their bid for a psychiatrist and other experts to help them prepare for Malvo's preliminary hearing on capital murder charges.

"We are not certain what makes Mr. Malvo tick at this time. So that is why we need a psychiatrist," defense lawyer Michael S. Arif told Fairfax County Juvenile Court Judge Kimberly J. Daniel as he asked for experts in four areas.

But she disagreed, siding with prosecutors who said it would be precedent-setting and too early in what is expected to be a lengthy court process for the state to provide funds for experts in psychiatry, DNA, fingerprinting and ballistics.

Arif contended that he needed the experts to help him evaluate the evidence that prosecutors are to give him by Dec. 20 in preparation for the preliminary hearing that both sides agreed to postpone to Jan. 14 from mid-December. The hearing will determine whether there is probable cause to hold him for trial.

Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, 41, are charged or suspected in at least 21 shootings, 14 of them fatal, in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Washington state. The shootings sent fear through the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks last month, closing schools and sending scared families indoors.

The itinerant pair was arrested Oct. 24 as the men slept in their blue Chevrolet Caprice at an Interstate 70 rest stop in Frederick County.

Malvo said nothing during yesterday's half-hour hearing, but appeared to watch the lawyers and judge, as a dozen deputy sheriffs watched him in a courtroom half-filled with news media.

After the hearing, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Horan Jr. said the judge was right not to grant taxpayer-funded experts at this stage, saying they're not yet needed by Malvo's defense.

Speaking later, Arif defended his position, saying that he has to rely on "the benevolence of the commonwealth" to decide if he can have experts and when, and how much it will pay.

In contrast, he said, prosecutors have had the investigative muscle of the FBI and police departments around the country, as well as the advantage of a seven-hour police interrogation of Malvo.

Reportedly, the teen-ager admitted to some of the shootings. If Malvo was a paying client, Arif could hire experts without the court's say-so.

"All we are asking for is a fair shake," Arif said, noting that the case is extraordinary in that prosecutors will seek to execute Malvo if he is convicted.

Horan said he would agree to a request for a psychiatric evaluation if Malvo's lawyers had an indication that Malvo was mentally incompetent. But Arif made no such contention in court, later describing his situation as a Catch-22 - without help from a psychiatrist, Malvo's state of mind can't be determined.

Police have said Malvo's fingerprints were on the rifle linked by ballistics to some of the murders. Arif told the judge he understood that police have DNA evidence from the car.

Malvo is charged in the killing Oct. 14 of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Home Depot in the Seven Corners section of the wealthy Virginia county. Muhammad is charged in neighboring Prince William County with killing Dean Harold Meyers, 53, at a gas station.

Arif also said he has been in contact with Malvo's mother's lawyer in Washington state, but would not provide details. Malvo's mother, Una James, reportedly left him about two years ago in Antigua, where the Jamaican-born youth apparently met Muhammad.