Judge overturns life sentences for D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo

[May 27, 2017]  (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday tossed out life prison terms for one of two men convicted in a deadly Washington, D.C. area shooting spree, saying he must be re-sentenced in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Washington Post reported.

Lee Boyd Malvo, 32, was one of two men found guilty in the series of sniper shootings in the fall of 2002 that killed 10 people, wounded three others and left residents of Washington, D.C. suburbs traumatized.

His co-defendant, John Allen Muhammad, was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.

Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such sentences unconstitutional for juveniles and later found that the ruling should be applied retroactively.

U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson cited that Supreme Court decision in ordering that Malvo be re-sentenced, the Post reported.

The ruling does not affect Malvo's convictions or the six life sentences that he was given in Maryland, the paper reported, although his attorneys are appealing those as well.

In the years following his conviction Malvo said he was sexually abused by Muhammad from the age of 15 until the time they embarked on the shooting spree from inside a blue Chevrolet Caprice.

Eighteen-year old sniper suspect Lee Malvo, (C), who was 17 at the time of the alleged crimes, appears in court during the trial of sniper suspect John Muhammad in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., October 22, 2003. REUTERS/Davis Turner/Pool/Files

They were arrested in October, 2002 after police discovered the pair sleeping in the car at a rest stop in Maryland.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by James Dalgleish)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.