Sniper Suspect Ends Stint As Own Lawyer

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

(3:07 PM ET)

By Matthew Barakat

Associated Press Writer

Joseph Bowman, a veteran criminal defense attorney who has handled death penalty cases in Virginia, said Muhammad likely inflicted heavy damage on himself during his two days of self-representation. The worst damage probably came during opening arguments in which he gave a rambling statement on the meaning of truth and failed entirely to address the facts of the case, Bowman said.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- AP
Two days after firing his attorneys and taking over as sole counsel in his capital murder trial, sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad fired himself on Wednesday and handed his defense back to lawyers Jonathan Shapiro and Peter Greenspun.

It was another strange twist in a trial in which Muhammad had stunned the judge and even his own attorneys when he demanded the right to represent himself just as opening arguments were to begin Monday.

Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. informed the jury of Muhammad's decision after a half-hour conference at the judge's bench, saying, ``Mr. Muhammad no longer believes it is in his best interest to represent himself.'' Muhammad, whose face is badly swollen from a chronic toothache, assured the judge that his health was not the reason for his decision.

Later in the day, the most dramatic testimony of the trial came from liquor-store employee Muhammad Rashid, who identified fellow suspect Lee Boyd Malvo as the man who shot and robbed him while Rashid feigned death so his attacker would not shoot again. Prosecutors then played Rashid's anguished 911 call to police, in which he wailed for help for six minutes, telling the dispatcher ``I am dying. ... I am all by myself.''

Prosecutors had previously complained about Muhammad's self-representation, even asking Millette at one point to rescind Muhammad's role as counsel. They said Muhammad was receiving too much help from Shapiro and Greenspun, whose role as standby counsel was supposed to be limited.

Millette ordered Muhammad to physically distance himself from his standby counsel to minimize communication between them.
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2003 © The Associated Press.

Dan