BREAKING NEWS – DC sniper sentenced to six consecutive life terms in second trial News
BREAKING NEWS – DC sniper sentenced to six consecutive life terms in second trial

[JURIST] Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Ryan has sentenced convicted Washington, DC-area sniper John Allen Muhammad [BBC profile] to six consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole. Muhammad was convicted [JURIST report] by a Maryland jury of six counts of murder earlier this week. Last year, Muhammad was convicted and sentenced to death [JURIST report] in Virginia for shootings there. Maryland prosecutors did not seek the death penalty [JURIST report] but wanted a second conviction in case the Virginia conviction is overturned on appeal.

Accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo [BBC profile], who pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to the Virginia charges and received a life sentence, testified [JURIST report] in the Maryland case that Muhammad pulled the trigger in five of the six killings there. Muhammad has called the government case a frame-up, saying he was in the Washington, DC area to find his ex-wife and children. 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.