20 Years Later, DC Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo Set to be Resentenced Per Verdict of Maryland Court of Appeals as his Life Sentence Apparently Violates 8th Amendment

A man convicted of six life sentences has been granted a new sentencing because of a Supreme Court ruling from 2012, in a 4-3 ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals.

The younger of the two DC snipers, Lee Boyd Malvo, has been granted new sentencing. Malvo was 17 when he and John Allen Muhammad terrorized the DC beltway killing ten people in the Washington D.C. area and wounding three others 20 years ago.

The pair were shooting people in their vehicles while on the beltway. They killed at least 14 people in total l and shot at 21.

Malvo is now 37 years old and has been given the opportunity for reduced sentencing after the Maryland court of appeals decided so on August 26th of this year.

This was not the first time he has attempted to get a reduced sentence in 2019 he also tried citing Miller v. Alabama which barred juveniles from receiving a mandatory life sentence. Both Virginia and Maryland have removed life sentences without parole for juveniles through legislative measures after the decision 2012 decision of the Supreme Court.

In Maryland, those who have served 20 years of a sentence for a crime under 18 can file a motion asking the circuit court to reduce their sentence, according to Maryland’s Juvenile Restoration Act, or JUVRA.

Judge Robert McDonald stated, “As a practical matter, this may be an academic question in Mr. Malvo’s case, as he would first have to be granted parole in Virginia before his life sentences in Maryland even begin. It is unlikely he will ever be released as he is also serving separate life sentences for murders in Virginia.

He added, “It is ultimately not up to the Court of Appeals to decide the appropriate sentence or if there will be a release of his Maryland sentences.”

The resentencing will be handled by a lower court, currently, Malvo is housed in the Red Onion State Prison in Virginia.

In the Miller vs. Alabama from 2012, the supreme court decided that mandatory life sentences for juveniles violated the 8th amendment determining it as a cruel and unusual punishment for a juvenile.