 A Fairfax County judge has dismissed charges against convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad in a second capital murder trial related to the sniper shooting spree. In a ruling released Friday, Judge Langhorne Keith tossed out the charges, saying Fairfax prosecutors violated Muhammad's right to a speedy trial.
| If they'd shot him in the back of the head when they caught him, that would have been speedy... |
Muhammad was charged in the October 14, 2002 killing of Linda Franklin in Falls Church. Keith says prosecutors waited too long to bring Muhammad to trial.
| How long is Franklin going to be dead? |
Defense lawyers say Muhammad's trial should have begun months ago under a Virginia law that requires a suspect's trial to begin within five months of arrest, unless the defendant waives that right. But prosecutors and defense attorneys disagree on when Muhammad was technically placed under arrest.
| Certain members of the public are starting to think that terrorism-related offenses should not be put into the civilian court system. |
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