Maryland sets trial dates for convicted snipers News
Maryland sets trial dates for convicted snipers

[JURIST] A Maryland judge has set trial dates for John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo [Wikipedia profiles] on charges from six Maryland deaths in the pair's 2002 DC-area sniper shooting spree. Muhammad is scheduled to stand trial May 1, 2006, and Malvo's trial will follow on Oct. 10, 2006. Both face six counts of first-degree murder in Maryland, after already having been convicted for shootings in Virginia [JURIST report]. The two states agreed to allow the pair to be tried in Maryland if they are returned to Virginia's custody afterward. Both trials are expected to last about two months. Muhammad already has been sentenced to death [JURIST report] in Virginia, while Malvo is serving a life sentence [JURIST report] because he was 17 at the time of the shootings. The two were also linked to shootings in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington state. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.