Malvo's mother defends strict parenting in Jamaica

Monday, December 15, 2003

CHESAPEAKE, USA: Una James says that whenever she would "flog" her son, Lee Boyd Malvo, with a leather belt to keep him in line, she felt little regret because corporal punishment is a way of life in her country. "In Jamaica, we beat people who are rude," she said. "In America, it's an abuse." 

According to a report by the Washington Post, James, 39, has been lurking as a villain in Malvo's capital murder trial. Early on in the defense's case, people who knew her and her son in Jamaica and on the Caribbean island of Antigua described James as a neglectful single mother who handed Malvo off to relatives, friends and even strangers in Jamaica so she could travel to other islands to look for work.

Malvo's attorneys have, in effect, put James's parenting on trial, and they are using it as a cornerstone of their case. 

"Anytime anything went wrong, he was beaten," forensic psychologist Dewey G. Cornell said in his testimony about Malvo's life with James. "The relationship was difficult and strained." 

The jury has not heard from James. The unemployed seamstress, who returned to Kingston after being deported from the United States, chose not to travel to Virginia to testify on her son's behalf. James said her decision stemmed from her distrust of the U.S. government. 

In an interview last week, she defended her parenting and said some of the trial testimony about her was untrue. 

"If I were a wicked mother, would I earn my living and spend it on him? How am I a wicked mother finding clothes for him and giving him pocket money?" she asked in the interview. 

James said she set high academic standards for Malvo and claimed that he developed behavioral problems during the stretches she was away. 

"Like my mother did to me, I used to flog him with a belt to discipline him," she said. 

Malvo, 18, is charged with murder in the Oct. 14, 2002, slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside the Seven Corners Home Depot. Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, say Malvo is a ruthless, methodical killer who gunned down innocent people to extort $10 million from authorities. Last month, Muhammad, 42, was sentenced to death. Malvo's trial is entering its sixth week, and his defense team has just finished its case. 

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