World News 21-10-2003 Drama At DC Sniper Trial who: Gulf war veteran John Allen Muhammad what: To defend himself at "DC sniper" trial where: Virginia, USA when: This week snippet: "The trial of the man charged with last year`s sniper shootings in the Washington area was thrown into turmoil yesterday when the accused began conducting his own defence," says The Guardian. "John Allen Muhammad was allowed to dismiss his lawyers and represent himself," explains The Times. "Mr Muhammad, 42, is on trial for the killing of Dean Harold Meyers, a Vietnam War veteran who was shot through the head as he filled his car with petrol at a north Virginia petrol station 12 months ago. Mr Meyers was the seventh victim of a three-week shooting spree that brought terror to the American capital and its suburbs, leaving ten people dead and three wounded in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland." "In a rambling opening statement, Mr Muhammad told the jurors he had `nothing to do with these crimes`," reports The Independent`s Andrew Buncombe. "He also spoke about the meaning of truth, saying at one point: `Jesus said Ye shall know the truth`." "The trial is taking place in Virginia Beach, 200 miles (325 kilometres) from the scene of the Manassas shooting, because it was deemed impossible to find an unbiased jury in the Washington area," says the BBC. "Analysts believe federal prosecutors chose Virginia for the first trial because it has the death penalty." [... more]

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