Sniper trials set to begin

Six of the homicides took place in Montgomery County.
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Maryland prosecutors were the first to announce murder charges against Washington-area snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo in 2002, but they were near the back of the line when it came to putting the two men on trial.
Now, more than three years after the killing spree, Maryland is about to get its chance.
Muhammad goes on trial Monday in six killings that took place in Montgomery County. Malvo's case is scheduled for the fall.
Virginia was given first crack at the two men because of its tough death penalty laws. Muhammad, 45, was sentenced to death there, Malvo, 21, to life in prison.
Maryland prosecutors say justice now demands a trial in the county that suffered the most. Six of the 10 sniper slayings were in Montgomery County, and the three-week spree in October 2002 began and ended there.
Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas Gansler also said new convictions are needed in case the Virginia verdicts are overturned.
"There are multiple layers of appeals that remain on the federal and state side," he said. "There is a dire need for insurance."
But some question whether trying Muhammad again is necessary or worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars it will cost.
What defense said
Maryland prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. And Muhammad's Virginia attorney, Peter Greenspun, said that even if Muhammad's death sentence in Virginia overturned, he will probably wind up with a life prison term.
"There is no reason for this prosecution to occur," Greenspun said. "It's not as if there is a reversal, then John Muhammad walks out onto the street."
Though much of the evidence and testimony will be similar to what was heard at Muhammad's Virginia trial, the Maryland case could take some unexpected turns. Muhammad plans to be his own lawyer despite evidence he is mentally ill. And he wants Malvo to testify.
Virginia spent $3 million on prosecuting the snipers. Though Maryland's costs have not approached that level, expenses are mounting. Montgomery County has spent $210,000 on courtroom security and transportation, a figure Sheriff Ray Kight expects to double by the end of the trials. Jailing the pair from their arrival last summer to January cost roughly $240,000.
However, most of the preparation work on evidence and witnesses was done for the Virginia trial. Gansler's prosecutors are salaried. And Muhammad's three standby attorneys are working for free.
Muhammad and Malvo roamed the Washington area in a Chevrolet Caprice, firing shots through a hole drilled in the trunk, prosecutors say. Victims were picked off at random at gas stations, parking lots, a school. People shied away from public places as a task force hunted the killers.
The two men were arrested Oct. 24, 2002, in Maryland. A Bushmaster rifle in the Chevy trunk was quickly linked to bullets found in the victims.
Muhammad was sentenced to death in 2003 for a Manassas, Va., shooting after a trial that included evidence from most of the other killings. Malvo, then 17, admitted pulling the trigger in many of those slayings, but Muhammad was depicted as a controlling figure who brainwashed his apprentice.
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