By Matthew Falloon, Staff ReporterACCEPTANCE OF visa applications to the United States should not be affected by the recent revelations that a Jamaican, 17-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo, was involved in the "sniper shootings" that rocked the U.S. earlier this month.
According to Public Affairs officer at the United States Embassy in Kingston, Orna Blum, "the case of this sniper incident and the alleged sniper who comes from Jamaica have not affected visa processing in the US embassy".
"Each person is viewed on an individual basis," she emphasised.
Concerns voiced by Malvo's Jamaican relations last week, as the media swooped on the family, revealed fears that future visa applications may be affected by the incidents. Both Malvo's father, Leslie, and his half-brother, Rohan, had said they were worried they would be tainted as a result of the events.
Jamaica's image is also unlikely to be adversely affected by the shootings, according to Ms. Blum. According to her, media houses in the United States will not indicate a suspected criminal's nationality if he or she is American, as it is assumed to be so. But, if the suspect is non-American, the distinction is made, she said.
With Malvo and 41-year-old John Allen Muhammad in federal custody, federal prosecutors may decide to press federal charges against them this week. Such charges would take precedence over the multiple charges already filed in Virginia and Maryland against the two and may lead to the death penalty.
It has also been revealed that Muhammad was apprehended last year attempting to bring two Jamaican women into the US at Miami International Airport. According to media reports, all three were carrying false documents but Muhammad was allowed to stay while the women were deported back to Jamaica.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that the legal debate over executing juvenile killers has taken on a new face with the arrest of Malvo.
Four Supreme Court justices called death sentences for juveniles "shameful" last week. On Monday, Virginia prosecutors filed charges that could give Malvo the death penalty, putting him at the heart of the controversy.
About 80 people who killed when they were 16 or 17 are on death rows around the United States. But the practice is being reconsidered in some of the 22 states that allow it, and the four justices favour doing away with it.
The Supreme Court in 1988 outlawed capital punishment for children 15 and younger. It ruled earlier this year that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute the mentally retarded.
Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer said last Monday that the same is true of juvenile defendants.
Stevens wrote that use of the death penalty for 16- and 17-year-olds "is a relic of the past and is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilised society."
Stevens said those under 18 cannot serve on juries, vote or marry without their parents' permission. They're more vulnerable and less self-disciplined than adults, he said.
One wrinkle could prevent the Malvo case from serving as a watershed event in the debate over juvenile executions. While Malvo is believed to be 17, Maryland State's Attorney Douglas Gansler has said it's possible the Jamaica native is 19. If that's the case, he could face the death penalty in any jurisdiction that allows it.
Maryland doesn't execute 17-year-olds, and the District of Columbia does not have capital punishment. Virginia officials filed murder charges on Monday that could carry the death penalty for Muhammad and Malvo.
William Schulz, executive director of the anti-death penalty Amnesty International USA, said if Malvo was involved in the crimes, he may have been influenced by Muhammad, a military veteran who has been described as controlling.
The United States is one of a few countries that allow execution of minors.
"This is going to be a case with international dimension. Our justice system will be on display," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
