Sniper's Attorneys to Argue Double Jeopardy

Attorneys for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad will argue before Fairfax Circuit Judge Jonathan C. Thacher that he should not be tried October 4 for the murder of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, because such a trial would violate his constitutional right against being tried twice for the same crime.

Muhammad's attorney claim that when he was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Dean H. Meyers at a gas station in Prince William County, the prosecution introduced evidence of numerous other shootings, including that of Franklin, to make their case. Therefore, trying him again for the Franklin murder would constitute double jeopardy.

However, Commonwealth of Virginia attorneys claim that Muhammad can be prosecuted in Fairfax County because "jeopardy cannot extend to an offense beyond the jurisdiction of the court in which the accused was tried." In other words, Prince William County could not convict Muhammad for a crime that was committed in Fairfax County, so therefore there was no jeopardy in the Prince William trial.

See also ABC News: Prosecutors: 2nd Muhammad Trial Not Double Jeopardy