Malvo Sniper Trial Moves Quickly

Fairfax County, Va., prosecutors Monday opened their capital murder case against Lee Boyd Malvo. He faces the same type of murder charges as alleged partner John Allen Muhammad in connection to the killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin on Oct. 14, 2002, in Falls Church.

A jury on Monday found Muhammad, 42, guilty on all four counts he faced in the murder of Dean Harold Meyers.

The 18-year-old Malvo also could face the death penalty if convicted.

Many of the witnesses called by the prosecution also testified at Muhammad's trial, reports CBS radio affiliate WTOP-AM's Brennan Haselton.

Franklin's husband, William Franklin, testified briefly about the night his wife was shot in the parking garage of a Home Depot store. He said he heard a loud noise and felt what turned out to be his wife's blood hit him on the side of the face.

Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush refused to allow prosecutors to play a tape of the 911 call Franklin made to report his wife's death, which was admitted into evidence during Muhammad's trial.

Prosecutors put 17 witnesses on the stand Monday. Roush said the defense would like to begin presenting its case Friday, and prosecutors said they are on track to finish by then.

"This trial won't last nearly as long as the Muhammad trial lasted," says CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen. "Prosecutors not only have circumstantial evidence against Malvo, they also have his own words to use against him and that permits the Commonwealth to avoid in this case the complexities we saw in the Muhammad case."

There is DNA and fingerprint evidence and a confession to police in which prosecutors say Malvo bragged about the shootings.

"Prosecutors don't need to work as hard or as long in the Malvo case as they did in the Muhammad case," Cohen added.

As he did during jury selection, Malvo alternated between paying close attention to the proceedings and writing on a legal pad, reports Haselton.

Defense attorney Craig Cooley said Monday night that Malvo had been told about Muhammad's conviction, but the lawyer declined to comment on his client's reaction.

Malvo's judge has to be very careful to ensure that jurors in that case aren't affected one way or the other by the verdicts in the other sniper trial, said Cohen. It will be hard to keep that information away from the Malvo jury entirely; the trick will be to remind jurors that the cases are different, the evidence is different, and that they may only judge Malvo based upon the evidence against him.