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Sniper suspect wants terror charge dropped

Sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo is surrounded by deputies as he is brought into court on October 22 to be identified by a witness during John Allen Muhammad's trial.
Sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo is surrounded by deputies as he is brought into court on October 22 to be identified by a witness during John Allen Muhammad's trial.

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VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (CNN) -- Sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo is asking a judge to drop the terrorism charge against him before his trial next month, with lawyers arguing the grand jury that indicted him was "constitutionally incompetent" under the law.

In a four-page motion, Malvo's attorneys used the judge's decision to move the trial to Chesapeake, Virginia, to buttress their argument that the grand jury that indicted Malvo was not fair and impartial.

In her decision, Fairfax County Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush said she wanted to move the trial away from the Washington D.C. area "where many citizens lived in fear during the month of October 2002 as a result of the crimes with which the defendant is charged."

Malvo's motion argues that the grand jury -- like the jurors who would have heard his case in northern Virginia had the trial not been moved -- was tainted.

"Since a competent jury could not be seated to hear this case in July of 2003 (when Judge Roush decided to move the trial), it must be concluded that the grand jury which returned the indictment" was also not competent to hear the case, the motion said.

The terrorism charge is one of two charges Malvo faces that carry a possible death penalty. Malvo is also charged with murder.

His trial is scheduled to begin Novembert 10. His alleged accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, is standing trial in Virginia Beach.


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