Lawyers fire back in sniper case

GREENBELT, Md. -- The attorney for John Allen Muhammad denounced the government's case against the sniper suspect, saying federal prosecutors overreached in bringing extortion charges.\nThe lawyer's remarks Tuesday came as a federal judge ordered Muhammad held without bail and investigators on the other side of the country looked into a fatal shooting to see if it's related to the sniper suspects.\nFederal prosecutors brought charges against Muhammad last week under weapons and extortion law in the October sniper attacks that killed 10 people in the Washington, D.C. area. He could get the death penalty.\nIn court, federal public defender James Wyda accused prosecutors of trying to "shoehorn this case into federal courts" in using the extortion law. He said the government is trying to prove that "these seemingly random attacks were all motivated by a crackpot scheme to collect $10 million."\nWyda noted that authorities did not even receive a note demanding the money until Oct. 19, well into the shooting spree.\n"This is no longer a murder case; this is an extortion case," he said outside court. "They can't prove extortion. They can't meet their burden of proof in making this a federal case."\nWyda also said authorities have not asked his client for a handwriting sample to attempt to link him to the note.\n"The government's case has significant problems," Wyda said. "There's no direct evidence that Mr. Muhammad was at the scene of any of these crimes."\nIn arguing against bail, federal prosecutor James Trusty told Chief Magistrate Judge Jillyn K. Schulze that Muhammad, 41, used multiple names and birth dates and had been living out of a car.\nThe other sniper suspect, 17-year-old John Lee Malvo, was ordered detained Monday after appearing at a closed juvenile hearing in federal court in Baltimore. Federal charges have also apparently been brought against Malvo, but authorities will not say so because he is a juvenile.