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Maryland court hears case seeking new sentence for DC sniper

SNIPER SHOOTINGS MALVO
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland's highest court has heard arguments on whether Washington, D.C., sniper Lee Boyd Malvo's six life sentences without the possibility of parole should be reconsidered.

The arguments centered on a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring mandatory life sentences for juveniles and a change in Maryland law.

Kiran Iyer, a Maryland public defender, argued that life without parole sentences for Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the 2002 shootings, violates the Supreme Court ruling and that his client should benefit from Maryland's new law enabling prisoners convicted as juveniles to seek release once they've served at least 20 years.

Over a span of three weeks in 2002, Malvo and his mentor, John Allen Muhammad shot people in Virginia, Maryland and Washington as they went about their everyday lives, the Associated Press reported.

Malvo was sentenced for killing six people.

The news outlet reported that Muhammad was sentenced to death and was executed in Virginia in 2009.

A decision was not issued on Tuesday by the Court of Appeals, which says a decision could take months, the AP reported.