Young sniper suspect Lee Malvo is just one of the latest suspects using what some call "the Matrix defense." In the movie the Matrix, a computer creates what appears to be the real world. By using this defense, suspects can say they weren't sane.
Malvo's defense team plans to use the Matrix as part of their defense and state that his surrogate father John Muhammed brainwashed him. They say Malvo has scribbled notes in his cell which were in the Matrix.
Josh Cooke's lawyers used the Matrix defense when he dressed like Neo and killed his parents. In 2000, Swiss exchange student Vadim Mieseges said he had to kill his landlady so he wouldn't be "sucked into the Matrix."
