Maryland prosecutor says no death penalty for DC sniper suspect News
Maryland prosecutor says no death penalty for DC sniper suspect

[JURIST] Prosecutor Douglas Gansler [official profile] of the Montgomery County State's Attorneys Office [official website] in Maryland said Thursday that he will not seek the death penalty for DC sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad [Wikipedia profile], who is charged with six counts of first degree murder related to the three-week series of shootings in the Washington, DC area in October 2002. Gansler said that he will only seek life sentences without the possibility of parole for Muhammad since he was already convicted of murder and sentenced to death [JURIST report] for a shooting in Mannasas, Virginia.

Moved to Montgomery County [JURIST report] in August, Muhammad's Maryland trial is scheduled to begin on May 1 [JURIST report]. His suspected accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo [Wikipedia profile], is set to face trial on October 10 and has already been sentenced to life in prison [JURIST report] for a sniper shooting in Falls Church, Virginia. 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.  

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