Sniper suspect faces federal death-penalty charges
( 2002-10-30 09:48 ) (7 )

John Allen Muhammad, one of two suspects in a sniper spree that left 10 people dead in the Washington area, faced federal charges on Tuesday, including six counts that carry the death penalty.

Saying little more than "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" and wearing a maroon prison jumpsuit at a hearing in suburban Greenbelt, Maryland, the 41-year-old Gulf War veteran followed along silently as the charges were read aloud.

Muhammad was charged with using a weapon to commit murder, affecting interstate commerce by extortion and other charges.

Six of the federal charges provide for the death penalty, alleging that Muhammad used a firearm while committing a violent crime that killed a person. Justice Department officials initially said there were seven death penalty charges but later amended this without explanation.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters this was appropriate, saying that as the complaint "alleges the most severe and atrocious of crimes ... I believe the ultimate sanction ought to be available here."

The criminal complaint named seven of the 10 people killed during the October sniper spree that terrified the Washington area for three weeks, with people cut down by a single bullet, apparently at random, as they went about their normal lives.

Muhammad and his 17-year-old traveling companion, John Lee Malvo, already face six murder charges apiece in Maryland, where six of the killings occurred, and Muhammad faces an additional murder charge in Virginia. Both face attempted murder and terrorism charges in Virginia.

Malvo was not named in the federal complaint, and an affidavit accompanying the charges referred to him as "John Doe, Juvenile."

The affidavit cited evidence linking all 13 shootings that took place since Oct. 2. It also said law enforcement received a handwritten note demanding $10 million be paid into a Visa account. The note contained threats to kill more people, including children, if the demands were not met.

It also cited evidence found in the car when Muhammad and Malvo were arrested. That included a Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle; a glove protruding from a hole in the trunk -- similar to a single glove found at the scene of an Oct. 22 shooting; two boxes of .338 ammunition and other items.

A detention hearing for Muhammad was scheduled Nov 5 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

His publicly appointed lawyer, Jim Wyda, urged patience in the case, telling reporters outside the Greenbelt courthouse: "At this point, we still have not heard any evidence in a court of law against Mr. Muhammad.

"Today he stands accused of an incomprehensible crime, one that has had a profound impact on our community and has destroyed the lives of good people and innocent families ... Mr. Muhammad and his lawyers still trust the system of justice. Please let it work," Wyda said.

WHERE WILL THE TRIAL BE?

Furious legal jockeying over which jurisdiction would try the case began soon after the two were caught last Thursday.

Both Maryland and Virginia have vowed to push for the death penalty, even though Maryland has a moratorium on executions. Neither Maryland nor federal law permits a minor to be eligible for the death penalty, but Virginia does.

The two suspects are also charged with murder in a separate case in Alabama, where officials have said they would seek the death penalty, and Washington state authorities have linked the pair to a murder and a shooting at a synagogue there.

Washington, D.C., where one killing occurred, has no death penalty, and so far has filed no charges in the case.

Both men have been in federal custody since shortly after their arrest, but one U.S. official said this did not necessarily settle the question of where the two would be tried, and whether the death penalty will be imposed if they are convicted.

"This does not mean we are taking it first," the official said. "It means we have charges we think we can support in court."

The sniper rampage prompted widespread panic around the U.S. capital and its suburbs, with schools locked down and no outdoor activities, sporting events canceled and ordinary people afraid to do such ordinary errands as pumping gasoline or shopping. Several of the victims were shot as they performed these chores.

Maryland officials argue that because most of the deaths occurred in their territory, the case should go forward there.

But Virginia authorities have maintained that their record on enacting the death penalty -- 86 times since 1976, compared with Maryland's three -- means the first trials should occur there.