And in other death penalty news: Jurors recommend death for John Allen Muhammad. Really, though, Attorney General John Ashcroft sentenced Muhammad to death months ago when he determined he'd be sent to Virginia for trial, since that state has the death penalty.

At the time Ashcroft said, ""I think it's well-understood on my part that I believe appropriate penalties for the kinds of atrocities that have been committed to include the ultimate sanction of the death penalty."

John Ashcroft: Judge, Jury and Executioner.