Judge Bars Defense Video in Malvo Trial
Posted on Mon Dec 08, 2003 at 09:16:23 AM EST
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The defense suffered a setback today when the Judge refused to allow a defense psychologist to play a power point presentation showing John Lee Malvo's life and views --evidence of his state of mind. The Judge sided with the prosecution and ruled it was filled with inadmissible evidence. The psychologist was allowed to testify--but without the video evidence.
Many are noting that so far the Malvo defense team has not presented evidence of remorse, which was a key factor to the Muhammad jury. Will that make the critical difference? Possibly, in our view. Jurors may be more willing to accept the indoctrination defense as a mitigator if they believe he's over it now. If he hasn't repudiated Muhammad, the prosecution may be able to convince the jury that Muhammad is likely to be a future danger while in prison, even if only to other inmates.
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