Speaking of miracles, a Virginia jury has decided to spare convicted killer Lee Boyd Malvo's life.

CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (CNN) — A Virginia jury Tuesday decided Lee Boyd Malvo should be sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper killings, rejecting prosecutors' call for his execution.

Malvo watched intently, blinking as the verdict was read; defense attorney Craig Cooley sat with his head bowed, while co-counsel Michael Arif patted Cooley's back.

The Associated Press reported that Malvo, wearing a blue sweater that made him look like a schoolboy, sat expressionless, with his elbows on the defense table.

Malvo was convicted last week of capital murder, terrorism and weapons charges. Prosecutors had asked the same jury to recommend a death sentence.

Judge Jane Marum Roush set formal sentencing for March 10. She cannot increase the penalty. Jurors also called for Malvo to be fined $100,000 on the each of the two capital counts against him.

Malvo was convicted in the killing of Linda Franklin, an FBI analyst gunned down outside a Home Depot in Falls Church, Virginia, on October 14, 2002. Franklin was one of 10 people killed and three wounded in the sniper attacks that gripped the capital and its suburbs that month.

What is this news item doing in a Christmas roundup, you ask? It is here because I had hoped the jurors would show the ill-fated youth some mercy. Perhaps partly because of the time of year, they did.

Asked whether the approaching Christmas holiday had anything to do with the decision to spare Malvo's life, Cooley told reporters, "All of us believe that people are of goodwill and people want to be fair. And to the extent that Christmastime accentuates that, good."

"Whatever you do, don't try one on Christmas week," Horan said. "I'm sure it played a part."

It is extremely rare for defendants using the insanity defense to be acquitted or receive lighter sentences, such as life in prison when a jury is death qualified. It is almost miraculous for a black defendant not to be sentenced to death when convicted of killing a white person in a Southern state. Malvo, who is from Antigua, may not realize it, but he has received an unexpected gift from an American jury — the rest of his life.

Note: This entry is from a column at Mac-a-ro-nies.