Lee Boyd Malvo Case Study

Malvo is less culpable due to his age. Malvo’s brain was not fully developed because he was under the age of 25. The frontal cortex is not fully developed in teenagers, which Malvo was at the time of the murders. This quote from evidence number 9 on page 13 says “Neuroscience suggests that the prefrontal cortex (responsible for executive functions, such as problem-solving, planning and decision making) is only fully developed by the age of 25.” This quote shows that adolescents’ brains are still developing until the age of 25, however, Malvo was only 17. This quote on page 13 from evidence number 9 states “[A] child’s capacity at this age is not equivalent to that of an older adolescent or adult. As a result, adolescents are particularly prone to risk taking behaviors which they often grow out of later in life.” Consequently, everything Malvo was doing was reckless because he is not old enough to make rational decisions pertaining to murder. On page 11 from evidence number 6, “Malvo said he was so distraught after Muhammad outlined his plans that he played Russian roulette, crying in a bathtub. He pulled the trigger several times before realizing that the next pull would be fatal. “I just broke down,” Malvo said. “I couldn’t pull the trigger.” Malvo in retrospect regretted what he did and realized all that Muhammad did to him. When it got to a certain point he realized that he shouldn’t go through with Muhammad’s ideas. From Atkins V. Virginia, the quote on page 17 states “On this basis the defense argued that Atkins was “mildly mentally retarded,” and so should not receive the death penalty. Executing a mentally retarded man would violate the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, they argued.”  Malvo is similar to Atkins because his brain did not function fully.

Malvo has less culpability due to Muhammad brainwashing him. Muhammad has set Malvo up on loyalty tests to see if Malvo would follow orders. On page 4 from evidence number 2, the evidence states “When Malvo and Muhammad had arrived at the mall, Muhammad told to shoot someone while they were in Hammond as a sort of loyalty test. This shows how Malvo could never feel safe rebelling against Muhammad because he knew he was always watching. On page 12 from evidence 7, the evidence states “Mr. Muhammad was an attentive father figure in many ways. A 10-year military veteran, he provided Malvo with an education, although it was one rooted in paramilitary tactics.” Muhammad influenced him, being his father figure as well as getting Malvo to trust him. This ultimately led to Malvo following Muhammad to kill many people. This shows that Muhammad is the most culpable criminal because Malvo didn’t kill people out of his own free will. This makes Malvo similar to Atkins because Malvo couldn’t think freely, making his mental capacity to judge whether killing people is worth the punishment. From Atkins V. Virginia, the evidence on page 18 states “[As will be shown below, the natural deficiencies of a mentally retarded person make the death penalty less effective in either providing retribution or in deterring future crimes. Therefore, imposing the death penalty on the mentally retarded is to impose needless and purposeless pain, and so is to violate the 8th amendment.]” This quote demonstrates that executing someone with a deteriorated mental capacity provides needless pain. This excerpt also displays how Atkins is similar to Malvo’s mental state.