VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A police officer who interviewed accused sniper John Allen Muhammad (search) just 30 minutes after one of last year's fatal shootings said he believed the story Muhammad told him and let him go.
Prince William County, Va., police officer Steven Bailey testified Tuesday that Muhammad was "very polite and very courteous," and he let him go after some brief questioning so Bailey could deal with the mayhem that had ensued after the Oct. 9, 2002, shooting.
Muhammad spoke to the officer as he drove his Chevy Caprice out of a restaurant parking lot from which police believe the snipers fired the shot that killed Dean Meyers.
Bailey said Muhammad told him that police had directed him into the parking lot as they secured the crime scene. Only later that night did Bailey find out that was untrue.
Bailey told Muhammad on cross-examination that he "didn't catch on," but said he wished he had. The officer interviewed every driver leaving the parking lot, preventing people from leaving who were scared to be at the scene, while the focus was on finding a white van.
Muhammad is representing himself during the trial, which began with opening statements Monday. On Tuesday, the prosecution objected to the way in which Muhammad was representing himself at trial.
At issue was the extensive consulting he was doing with standby counsel. Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. (search) seemed to side with the prosecution, telling Muhammad that he could either be represented by counsel or represent himself.
"That's not what's happening here," Millette said. "It seems to me that you are acting as co-counsel with the three of them, but you're the one doing the talking."
The judge decided to call a recess, after which he would require that there be more distance between Muhammad and the standby attorneys.
Earlier Tuesday, Muhammad withdrew a request that might have allowed him to introduce mental health evidence at his trial.
"I've changed my mind on that," Muhammad told the judge at the beginning of the second day of testimony.
Muhammad has been barred from presenting any mental health evidence because he refused to meet with prosecutors' mental health expert. On Monday, he had asked Millette to reconsider that ruling.
'I Had Nothing to Do With These Crimes'
Muhammad's decision to defend himself against capital murder charges in last year's Washington-area sniper attacks surprised legal experts, raising the possibility that he could cross-examine shooting survivors and his alleged accomplice.
In a rambling but adamant 20-minute opening statement Monday, Muhammad, wearing a suit and tie, told the jury the evidence "will all show I had nothing to do with these crimes."
He asked jurors to pay close attention to the facts because "my life and my son's life is on the line," a reference to 18-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo (search), who is to go on trial next month in the shootings. The two are not related, but have referred to each other as father and son.
Malvo was brought into the courtroom for about two minutes Monday so a witness could identify him. Malvo exchanged the briefest of glances with 42-year-old Muhammad but did not take the stand.
The witness, bank employee Linda Thompson, testified she saw the two men outside her bank on Oct. 9, 2002, shortly before a man was gunned down while pumping gasoline nearby.
Asked by a prosecutor whether Malvo was the man she saw getting into a car in the northern Virginia bank parking lot, Thompson said: "He had more hair, but yes."
She also said Muhammad walked across the lot and told her, "Good evening."
Muhammad refused to cross-examine Thompson in Malvo's presence but later asked the woman: "Was it because we was black that you remember us?"
She denied their race was an issue, saying instead that their out-of-state license plates caught her eye.
• Raw Data: Muhammad's Indictment (pdf)
• Raw Data: Notice of Intent to Seek Death Penalty (pdf)
Larry Meyers, brother of shooting victim Dean Meyers (search), also testified Monday, speaking briefly about his brother's life, including military service in Vietnam.
Muhammad is accused of shooting Myers, the seventh victim in a three-week shooting spree last October that left 10 people dead in the Washington, D.C. area.
Larry Meyers identified his 53-year-old brother from a snapshot, with prosecutor Paul Ebert asking, "Does this represent your brother in life?" and then from a bloody crime-scene photo, with the prosecutor asking, "Does this show your brother in death?"
Muhammad did not cross-examine Larry Meyers.
Legal experts agreed that Muhammad, in choosing to defend himself, now has little chance of an acquittal. But he may be seeking a different kind of vindication, University of Virginia law professor Anne Coughlin (search) said.
"He doesn't want to be perceived as voiceless and helpless man, the pawn of lawyers," Coughlin said. "Maybe he wants to stand on his own two feet. Maybe he'd rather be presented as ruthless and cold-blooded than insane."
Judge Millette granted Muhammad's request to represent himself after directly questioning Muhammad during a bench conference.
It was not clear why Muhammad decided to fire his court-appointed lawyers, who declined to comment and are serving as standby counsel and would assist Muhammad if he asks.
Fox News