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 Muhammad asks trial by judge, not jurySniper suspect seeks change of venue if first request denied
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- John Allen Muhammad, accused in last fall's sniper shootings, wants to be tried by a judge instead of a jury, and if that request is denied, he wants the trial moved from the Washington region. In a court brief filed Monday, Muhammad's lawyers argued it is "doubtful ... that there will be any jurisdiction in Virginia" in which potential jurors would not be tainted by pretrial publicity. Muhammad's attorneys said a made-for-television movie is being planned about the series of killings last October and that several books are scheduled for release shortly before the start of the trial this fall. "For these reasons, while shifting the trial location may allow a jury to be eventually selected, any juror will have to struggle with the past and ongoing media inundation to determine his ability to be a fair and neutral arbiter," said the brief filed in Prince William County Circuit Court in Virginia. Muhammad "is satisfied to have this court determine his fate, and given the bias [presumed] in these circumstances, he has a right to be tried by the court," according to the motion. Last month, lawyers for Muhammad's teenage codefendant, Lee Boyd Malvo, asked a judge in neighboring Fairfax County to move his case to another jurisdiction, also citing pretrial publicity. Judge Jane Marum Roush has said she will decide by early July whether to change the venue of Malvo's trial. The Washington Post reported this weekend that Roush was searching for other possible venues in Virginia. Attorneys for both men say their clients' chances of getting fair trials are complicated by the fact that they were charged with violating Virginia's antiterrorism statute. As such, the attorneys claim, all members of the community are "victims" of terrorism and cannot be expected to be impartial. "Each one will have felt the fear that plagued the community during the series of random shootings attributed to the accused," Muhammad's attorneys wrote in their brief Monday. "In the very unique circumstances here, where the entire community is alleged to be the victim of terrorism, we submit that the law requires that no jury be seated." Muhammad is scheduled to stand trial in the killing of Dean Harold Meyers on October 9, 2002, at a Sunoco gas station in Manassas, Virginia. Malvo is charged with the shooting death of Linda Franklin on October 14, 2002, outside a Home Depot in nearby Falls Church. Together, the two men are charged in the series of sniper attacks last fall that killed 10 people and wounded four others in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Investigators also have linked the pair to slayings in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Washington state. CNN producer Mike Ahlers contributed to this article.
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