At Malvo trial, cult expert explains how values can change
Sniper prosecutor objects to testimony
From Mike M. Ahlers
CNN
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Defense attorney Tom Walsh, left, questions Paul Martin, right, as Lee Boyd Malvo watches, seated center, in this sketch.
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Jailhouse sketches by accused sniper Lee Boyd Malvo illustrating threats, hate and violence are to be used as evidence by the defense. CNN's Jeanne Meserve reports (December 4)
Judge disallows a letter the defense says shows Malvo's fear of Muhammad.
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CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (CNN) -- People can be influenced by others to change their moral values, a psychologist and former cult member testified Friday at the trial of sniper defendant Lee Boyd Malvo.
"People that don't normally lie, cheat or steal can lie, cheat or steal" after being indoctrinated, said Paul R. Martin, testifying for the defense. "People can kill when they're under this kind of mindset."
Attorneys for Malvo are pursuing an insanity defense, saying that John Allen Muhammad -- convicted in last year's sniper shootings -- indoctrinated or brainwashed Malvo into becoming a "child soldier" and helping him carry out the series of attacks that killed 10 and wounded three in the Washington, D.C., area. (More on the defense strategy)
Prosecutor Robert F. Horan Jr. repeatedly objected to referring to indoctrination as a form of mental illness, calling it a "red herring" and "the ultimate refuge for mental health scoundrels."
Horan held aloft a copy of an American Psychiatric Association manual and said it "Never, never, never defines indoctrination as a mental health disease.
"It's talking about prisoners of war," Horan added. "It's talking about hostages. It's talking about victims of crimes who are held. Patty Hearst. We don't have any of that here."
Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush allowed the testimony but limited its scope, The Associated Press reported.
Now 18, Malvo is charged with the October 14, 2002, killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Fairfax, Virginia, store. He pleaded not guilty to capital murder and terrorism charges.
Martin: Indoctrination can be one-on-one
Martin, who testified that he was a lieutenant in a religious cult in the early 1970s, said that there are a series of techniques cults or individuals use to indoctrinate people. Typically, he said, they have a dogma or ideology, and a system for teaching that ideology.
Cults also attack the person's past belief system, Martin said. "In other words, out with the old and in with the new."
Cults usually place some sort of demand on people they are indoctrinating, Martin said, whether it be enduring lectures, watching videotapes, or engaging in exercise and meditation.
Martin, who according to The Associated Press has not interviewed either Malvo or Muhammad, also said cults promote a fear of leaving a group, and create additional incentives -- in the form of extra sleep or food, for example -- for remaining in the group.
Martin said people have a common misconception that most indoctrinated people are isolated from society. "It's a misnomer to think that everything about these situations is like a concentration camp," he said.
And, he said, there can be one-on-one indoctrination of the sort defense attorneys say happened with Muhammad and Malvo.
Defense expert on mental health expected Monday
The trial begins its fifth week Monday with the testimony of Dewey Cornell, a clinical psychologist at the University of Virginia who was appointed by the court as the defense's mental health expert. Defense attorneys told the court Friday that Cornell and two other experts would testify that Malvo was indoctrinated. This is the meat of the defense case.
The Associated Press reported that Cornell's presentation would include a 12-minute clip of the film "The Matrix" as well as clips of violent video games that Malvo and Muhammad played together.
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An artist's sketch shows social worker Carmeta Albarus testifying Thursday.
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Social worker Carmeta Albarus testified Thursday about Malvo's interest in "The Matrix," in which the hero shoots his way out of a computer-imposed world of virtual reality, the AP reported.
There is no indication in Malvo's case that "The Matrix" is a core issue of the insanity defense, according to the AP.
Albarus was not permitted to talk about Malvo's impressions of the film, according to the AP. But she said she watched the movie and saw Malvo in the role of the hero, Neo, who brings about a massive societal change. Muhammad filled the role of Morpheus, who served as Neo's mentor, Albarus said.
Malvo's was interested in fostering social change, Albarus said. In her Thursday testimony, she described how the defendant told her of creating a group of "super children" to combat racial injustice around the world.
Malvo was "consumed" by the issue of racial inequality, injustice and oppression, Albarus said.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
