DC sniper stops appealing
by Lori Barrett | May 7, 2008 at 5:57 am
Posted in baltimore crime
Last week, lawyers for DC sniper John Allen Muhammad filed an appeal in an attempt to avoid his execution. This week, Muhammad sent a letter to the prosecutors, requesting help in ending the appeals process.
Muhammad said that his lawyers are filing the appeals against his wishes. He asks the state attorney general to put a stop to it and “murder this innocent black man.” His defense attorney is not commenting.
Last week’s appeal detailed Muhammad’s brain damage and possible schizophrenia resulting from childhood abuse. Lawyers argued that the possible mental illness left Muhammad incapable of making legal decisions.
I have to wonder if this latest letter — with “Muhammad innocent and on death row” written in the margins — is an attempt to give credence to the claims in last week’s appeal. If a person was both sane and innocent, would he be asking to put an end to the appeals process and hence his life?
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May 8th, 2008 at 1:05 am | Please log in to reply. | Log in to rate this comment | report this comment
It occurs to me that many who claim to be innocent yet wish for someone to kill them are those who wish to be martyrs. In the world today, far too many people want to be martyrs. Being sane implies the ability to think clearly and rationally about things. However, being sane also implies the ability to choose between rational and irrational behaviors. As the 9/11 hijackers demonstrated, you can be sane and choose to be irrational. Muhammad continues to exhibit this behavior. He chooses to be irrational because he is sane enough to know the effects of his behavior. Why would he use the term 'murder' if he did not understand its true meaning?