Sniper suspect’s lawyers want publication of police chief’s book postponed
GREENBELT, Maryland (AP) — Attorneys for sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad yesterday asked a federal judge to delay the release of a book by the former police chief in charge of the manhunt, saying the account will cause a media “feeding frenzy” and prejudice potential jurors.
In a request filed in federal court, attorney Thomas Mann said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose has “strategically planned the launch of his book just prior to Muhammad’s trial in an attempt to obtain as much money as possible from the results of his official investigation”.
Said the lawyer: “Muhammad will suffer irreparable harm in the nature of … a feeding frenzy conjured by Moose through press tours, television interviews and other publicity-oriented endeavors.”
Muhammad, 42, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, a native of Jamaica, allegedly took part in 20 shootings that killed 13 people in Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Washington, DC last year. Prosecutors have said the three-week shooting spree was part of scheme to extort $10 million from the government. Both could face the death penalty if convicted.
Moose’s book, “Three Weeks in October: The Manhunt for the Serial Sniper,” is due to be released on September 15, according to a listing on Amazon.com.
Muhammad goes on trial in Virginia on October 14 in the slaying of a man at a gas station. Mann asked US District Judge William Bennett to order the book’s publication postponed “by a matter of weeks” until after Muhammad’s trial.
Moose’s attorney, Ronald Karp, did not immediately return a call for comment. A message left at Moose’s home was also not returned.
Moose signed a book deal in January with publisher EP Dutton for a reported $170,000 advance. The county ethics commission later forbade him to write the book, saying that he would be misusing his office for profit and that he might be tempted to disclose confidential information.
Moose resigned on June 28, saying he was forced to choose between his job and the book.
On Wednesday, a Virginia judge moved Malvo’s trial from Fairfax, Virginia, to Chesapeake, Virginia, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) beyond the Washington suburbs, saying too many people in the metropolitan area had been gripped by fear during the string of killings. Malvo’s trial is set for November 10.