Holding the trial at Virginia Beach, Virginia, the government prosecuted Muhammad under the state’s antiterrorism act rather than as a regular murder prosecution, making it a test case for the new legislation. The act was passed amidst a raft of other legislative moves against democratic protections and workers rights, including the October 2001 Patriot Act. The hunt for the sniper also fit into the post-September 11 probes at using military forces inside United States territory.

The law defines an act of “terrorism” as a crime committed “with the intent to intimidate the civilian population at large or influence the conduct or activities of the government of the United States, a state or locality through intimidation.”

Under this law the prosecution did not have to prove that Muhammad pulled the trigger to call for the death penalty—the burden of proof normally required for a death sentence to be applied in standard murder prosecutions. The fact that prosecutors presented no evidence that Muhammad fired the rifle in any of the shootings was a key point in the defense case.

The trial of Muhammad’s alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, is taking place in Chesapeake, Virginia. Malvo’s age is the reason the prosecution is being undertaken in that state. Unlike other areas where people were allegedly killed by the two, Virginia state law allows his prosecution as an adult—meaning that he, too, will be eligible for the death penalty.

Back in November of last year, as state and federal authorities wrestled over the location of the trials, an Associated Press reporter noted, “The overriding concern among federal officials is to ensure their legal options include the death penalty.”

U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft said, “It is imperative that the ultimate sanction be available for those who have committed these crimes.”

In the course of the manhunt sparked by the murders, the U.S. government deployed military surveillance aircraft above Washington, where most of the killings took place. Requests for this military assistance from the FBI and local cops allowed Washington to skirt the bar on the use of the armed forces on U.S. territory spelled out in the Posse Comitatus Act.

Muhammad, who is Black, was convicted by a jury of 11 whites and one Black on two counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and “use or display” of a firearm in the commission of a felony. As the jury was being chosen, local media was filled with coverage rehashing the three-week episode of October 2002. One television network went so far as to carry a fictionalized dramatization of the event featuring actors who resemble the defendants.  
 
 
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