Editing John Allen Muhammad (section)

==Criminal case==
{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2016}}
On October 24, 2002, Muhammad was captured in Maryland, where most of the attacks and murders occurred. Although Maryland sought to bring him to trial, [[United States Attorney General|United States attorney general]] [[John Ashcroft]] reassigned<ref>United States Department of Justice – Statement Of The Attorney General of the United States in re: Jurisdictional Motions of the Several States Seeking Relief For Primary Jurisdiction; Awarding of Jurisdiction to the Commonwealth of Virginia, The Commonwealth's Attorney for Prince William County.</ref> the case to the jurisdiction of Paul Ebert, the Commonwealth's Attorney for [[Prince William County, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sniper9-2009nov09,0,3520756.story|title=D.C. sniper set to be executed Tuesday|date=September 16, 2009|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=November 9, 2009|first=David G.|last=Savage}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/sniper/timeline_investigation.html|title=Timeline: Investigation and court case|date=May 24, 2006|website=[[CBC News]]|access-date=November 9, 2009}}</ref> Virginia was viewed as more likely to impose a death sentence, which was borne out by the Virginia and Maryland verdicts. Virginia also allowed the death penalty for juveniles.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/10/AR2005051001054.html|title=Va. Will Send Snipers To Md. for Prosecution|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=February 17, 2011|first1=Tom|last1=Jackman|first2=David|last2=Snyder|date=May 11, 2005}}</ref>

In October 2003, Muhammad went on trial for the murder of Dean Meyers. The crime had occurred in Prince William County, near the city of [[Manassas, Virginia]]. The trial had been moved from Prince William County to [[Virginia Beach]], approximately 200 miles away. Muhammad was granted the right to represent himself in his defense and dismissed his legal counsel, though he immediately switched back to having legal representation after his opening statement. He was charged with murder, terrorism, [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]] and the illegal use of a firearm and faced a possible death sentence.

Prosecutors said the shootings were part of a plot to extort $10 million from local and state governments. The prosecution said that they would make the case for 16 shootings allegedly involving Muhammad. The terrorism charge against Muhammad required prosecutors to prove he committed at least two shootings in a three-year period.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/10/muhammad.trial/index.html|title=Prosecution rests in Muhammad trial|website=[[CNN]]|date=November 10, 2003|accessdate=August 25, 2023}}</ref>

The prosecution called more than 130 witnesses and introduced more than 400 pieces of evidence intended to prove that Muhammad undertook the murders and ordered Malvo to help carry them out. Evidence included a rifle found in Muhammad's car that was linked by [[ballistics test]]s to eight of the 10 killings in the Washington area and two others in Louisiana and Alabama; the car, which was modified so that a sniper could shoot from inside the trunk; and a laptop computer, also found in the car, that contained maps with icons pinpointing shooting scenes. Witness accounts put Muhammad across the street from one shooting and his car near the scene of several others. There was also a recorded phone call to a police hotline in which a man, his voice identified by a detective as Muhammad's, demanded money in exchange for stopping the shootings.<ref>{{cite news|first=Alex|last=Tizon|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20021110&slug=killer103|title=Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad's meltdown
|newspaper=[[Seattle Times]]|date=November 10, 2002|accessdate=August 25, 2023}}</ref>

Muhammad's defense asked the court to drop the capital murder charges because there was no direct evidence. Malvo's fingerprints were on the Bushmaster rifle found in Muhammad's car and DNA from Muhammad was discovered on the rifle, but the defense contended that Muhammad could not be put to death under Virginia's "trigger-man law" unless he actually pulled the trigger to kill Meyers, and nobody testified that they saw him do so.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7605059|title=Court upholds D.C. sniper death penalty|website=[[NBC News]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=April 22, 2005|access-date=September 8, 2020}}</ref>

On November 17, 2003, Muhammad was convicted of all four counts in the indictment against him: capital murder for the shooting of Meyers; capital murder under Virginia's antiterrorism statute for homicide committed with an intent to terrorize the government or the public at large; [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]] to commit murder; and the illegal use of a firearm. In the penalty phase of the trial, the jury, after five hours of deliberation over two days, unanimously recommended that Muhammad be sentenced to death. On March 9, 2004, a Virginia judge agreed with the jury's recommendation and sentenced John Allen Muhammad to death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/09/sniper/|title=Sniper Muhammad sentenced to death|website=[[CNN]]|date=March 9, 2004|access-date=September 8, 2020}}</ref>

On April 22, 2005, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed his death penalty, stating that Muhammad could be sentenced to death because the murder was part of an act of terrorism. The court also rejected an argument by defense lawyers that he could not be sentenced to death because he was not the triggerman in the killings. Virginia Supreme Court Justice [[Donald W. Lemons]] said at the time, "With calculation, extensive planning, premeditation and ruthless disregard for life, Muhammad carried out his cruel scheme of terror."<ref name="NBC News">{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7605059|title=Court upholds D.C. sniper death penalty|author=<!--none given-->|work=[[NBC News]]|date=April 22, 2005|access-date=October 2, 2019}}</ref>

In May 2005, Maryland and Virginia reached an agreement to allow his extradition to face Maryland charges. He was held at the maximum security [[Sussex I State Prison]] near [[Waverly, Virginia|Waverly, Sussex County, Virginia]], which houses Virginia's male [[death row]] inmates. In August 2005, while awaiting [[execution (legal)|execution]] in Virginia, he was extradited to [[Montgomery County, Maryland]] to face charges there.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/convicted-dc-sniper-extradited-to-maryland-for-second-trial|title=Convicted DC Sniper Extradited to Maryland for Second Trial|website=[[Fox News]]|date=August 22, 2005|access-date=September 8, 2020}}</ref>

On May 30, 2006, a Maryland jury found Muhammad guilty of six counts of murder. He was sentenced to six consecutive life terms without possibility of parole on June 1, 2006. Neither Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana nor Washington (state) moved to try Muhammad, given his death sentence for murder in Virginia. In 2006, Malvo confessed that the pair also killed 14 victims in California, Arizona, and Texas.<ref>{{cite news|first=Arnold H.|last=Rotstein|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/convicted-sniper-confesses-to-2002-arizona-killing-police-say/|title=Convicted sniper confesses to 2002 Arizona killing, police say|newspaper=[[Seattle Times]]|date=October 28, 2006|accessdate=August 25, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Richard|last1=Winton|first2=Doug|last2=Smith|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jun-17-me-sniper17-story.html|title=D.C. Sniper Confesses to L.A. Slaying|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 17, 2006|accessdate=August 25, 2023}}</ref>

On May 6, 2008, it was revealed that Muhammad asked prosecutors in a letter to help him end legal appeals of his conviction and death sentence "so that you can murder this innocent black man." An appeal filed by Muhammad's defense lawyers in April 2008 cited evidence of [[brain damage]] that would render Muhammad incompetent to make legal decisions and that he should not have been allowed to represent himself at his Virginia trial.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/06/dc.sniper.ap/index.html|title=D.C. sniper wants to drop death row appeals|author=<!--none given-->|work=[[CNN]]|date=May 6, 2008|access-date=October 2, 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507163658/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/06/dc.sniper.ap/index.html|archive-date=May 7, 2008}}</ref>

On September 16, 2009, Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Mary Grace O'Brien set Muhammad's execution date for November 10, 2009.<ref name="WaPo_date"><!--According to WaPo, "Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Mary Grace O'Brien chose the date during a teleconference with lawyers in the case Wednesday morning", i.e., Wednesday, September 16, 2009-->{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/16/AR2009091601043.html|title=November Execution Date Set for Muhammad|date=September 17, 2009|access-date=November 13, 2009|newspaper=The Washington Post|last=Markon|first=Jerry}}</ref><ref name="BBC_date">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8259319.stm|title=Execution date set for US sniper|date=September 16, 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=November 9, 2009}}</ref> On November 9, 2009, Muhammad's petition for review of his death sentence was denied by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref name="WaPo_scotus">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110901741.html|date=November 9, 2009|access-date=November 9, 2009|last=Barnes|first=Robert|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Supreme court denies request to stay D.C. sniper's execution}}</ref><ref name="LAT_scotus">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sniper-execution-court10-2009nov10,0,866968.story|title=Supreme Court refuses to halt Beltway sniper's execution|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Savage|first=David G.|date=November 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112075314/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sniper-execution-court10-2009nov10%2C0%2C866968.story|archive-date=November 12, 2009|access-date=January 4, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Justice [[John Paul Stevens]], joined by Justices [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] and [[Sonia Sotomayor]], wrote a separate opinion stating that Virginia's rush to set an execution date "highlights once again the perversity of executing inmates before their appeals process has been fully concluded"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/09-7328.pdf|title=Statement of Stevens, J. On Application for Stay and on Petition For a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit|date=November 9, 2009|access-date=November 10, 2009|publisher=[[Supreme Court of the United States]]|last=Stevens|first=John Paul}}</ref> while noting that they concurred with the decision that the appeal ought not be heard.