Muhammad v. State

• Decision Date: 05 November 2007
• Docket Number: No. 0986, September Term, 2006.,0986, September Term, 2006.
• Citation: 934 A.2d 1059,177 Md. App. 188
• Parties: John Allen MUHAMMAD v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

934 A.2d 1059

177 Md. App. 188

John Allen MUHAMMAD v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 0986, September Term, 2006.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

November 5, 2007.

Nancy S. Forster, Public Defender and Brian M. Saccenti, Baltimore, for Appellant.

Kathryn G. Graeff and Diane E. Keller (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen. on the brief), Baltimore, for Appellee.

Panel: MURPHY, C.J., BARBERA, and CHARLES E. MOYLAN, JR., (retired, specially assigned), JJ.

CHARLES E. MOYLAN, Jr., Judge, retired, specially assigned.

For 22 days in October of 2002, Montgomery County, Maryland, was gripped by a paroxysm of fear, a fear as paralyzing as that which froze the London district of Whitechapel in 1888. In Whitechapel, however, the terror came only at night. In Montgomery County, it struck at any hour of the night or day. In Whitechapel, all of the victims were prostitutes. In Montgomery County, every man, woman, and child was a likely target. The body count in Whitechapel was five; in Montgomery County the death toll reached six. The name of the Whitechapel terrorist has never been discovered. In Montgomery County, their names are John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo.

After a month-long trial in May of 2006, a Montgomery County jury, presided over by Judge James L. Ryan, convicted the appellant, John Allen Muhammad, of 1) the October 2, 2002, first-degree murder of James Martin; 2) the October 3 first-degree murder of James Buchanan; 3) the October 3 first-degree murder of Premkumar Walekar; 4) the October 3 first-degree murder of Maria Sarah Ramos; 5) the October 3 first-degree murder of Lori Lewis Rivera; and 6) the October 22 first-degree murder of Conrad Johnson. Judge Ryan sentenced John Muhammad to six terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, to be served consecutively with each other and to be served consecutively with any previously imposed sentences in other jurisdictions (including a death sentence in Virginia) for crimes committed in the course of the same murder spree.

Ironically, it is John Muhammad who is aggrieved at the way he was treated by Montgomery County, as he now complains

1. that Judge Ryan erroneously failed to comply with Maryland Rule 4-215, when he permitted the appellant to discharge counsel and to proceed pro se;

2. that Judge Ryan erroneously conducted a competency hearing and erroneously found the appellant to be competent to stand trial 3. that Judge Ryan erroneously denied him a fair trial by refusing to permit him to call a number of witnesses in his defense;

4. that Judge Ryan erroneously permitted the State to present the prior recorded testimony of Dr. Emily Ward;

5. that Judge Ryan erroneously refused to remove the trial from Montgomery County;

6. that Judge Ryan erroneously refused to question the jury venire about a possibly disqualifying conversation reportedly overheard by one prospective juror;

7. that Judge Ryan erroneously allowed the State to cross-examine an officer about compliance with the discovery requirements and erroneously instructed the jury with respect to such compliance;

8. that Judge Ryan erroneously refused to allow the appellant to recross-examine a State's witness; and

9. that the cumulative effect of all of the above denied the appellant a fair trial.

The Epicenter of Montgomery County

Although the reign of terror perpetrated by Muhammad and Malvo ultimately spread over seven separate jurisdictions and involved 10 murders and 3 attempted murders, the epicenter was unquestionably Montgomery County. Six of the ten murders were committed in Montgomery County. The terror began in Montgomery County on Wednesday evening, October 2, 2002. The terror ended in Montgomery County on Tuesday evening, October 22, 2002.

Seized with epidemic apprehension of random and sudden violence, people were afraid to stop for gasoline, because a number of the shootings had occurred at gas stations. Schools were placed on lock-down status. On one occasion, Interstate 95 was closed in an effort to apprehend the sniper. A multi-jurisdictional state and federal task force was formed to cope with the crisis. "Hot lines" to receive tips were created by both the Montgomery County Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Over 60,000 tips were ultimately received. The sense of dread that hovered over the entire community was immeasurable. The six lives that were taken were but a part of an incalculable toll.

1. James Martin

James Martin was a systems analyst for the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. At just after 6 P.M. on October 2, 2002, he was standing in the parking lot of a Shoppers Food Warehouse in Wheaton. Three witnesses heard a "loud bang" as Martin clutched his chest, gave a cry for help, and collapsed to the ground. He died almost immediately from a bullet fired into his back.

It was determined that the shot had been fired from the rear of the parking lot. There was later recovered from Muhammad and Malvo, on October 24, a Bushmaster XM-15 semiautomatic .223-caliber rifle with a muzzle velocity of approximately 3,000 feet per second. The autopsy of Martin showed that his injuries were consistent with those inflicted by a .223-caliber bullet fired from a Bushmaster rifle. The medical examiner testified that a .223-caliber bullet fired by a high velocity weapon leaves a distinctive and extremely devastating injury, as it did to Martin, because the bullet fragments when it hits the body, causing "a tremendous amount of damage."

When Muhammad and Malvo were apprehended on October 24, they were in a dark colored 1990 Chevrolet Caprice with New Jersey license tag number NDA 21Z. At about 10:50 A.M. on the day that Martin was killed, an officer on patrol near Aspen Hill took note of the Caprice and its New Jersey tags stopped in a traffic lane. It was occupied by two black males. A records check showed that it was registered to John Allen Muhammad. Because there were no outstanding warrants, the officer did nothing further. At about 10 P.M. that night, four hours after Martin's killing at the Wheaton Shoppers Food Warehouse, a police detective, checking the White Flint Mall parking lot because of a rash of car thefts that had occurred there, noted the presence of Muhammad's car with the New Jersey tags on the lot. The security guard spoke with John Muhammad on the parking lot. He was not wearing any shoes and the guard suspected that he was homeless. Muhammad stated that he was traveling with his son and he pointed to an old, dark blue car with New Jersey license tags. The guard told him that he had to move the car before the parking lot was locked up for the night. The guard ran a check on the tags, found no improprieties, and did nothing further. When she returned to the area around midnight, Muhammad and the car were gone. The encounter had no special significance for her at the time.

2. James Buchanan

The senseless killing of October 2 escalated into a murderous rampage by the morning of October 3. James Buchanan, who owned and operated a landscaping business, was mowing the lawn at the Fitzgerald Auto Store near the White Flint Mall at about 7:45 A.M. Gary Huss, an employee at the auto store, heard a "loud bang" but looked around and saw nothing. A minute or two later, another employee rushed into his office and said that "someone was dead on the parking lot." Another employee had also heard a "loud shotgun blast" and saw Buchanan grab his chest, stumble toward the gate, and fall. Buchanan lay dead with a "huge wound" to his chest. The post-mortem examination revealed that a single bullet had entered Buchanan's body from the back. The wound was consistent with one caused by a .223 rifle shot fired by a high velocity weapon.

3. Premkumar Walekar

No more than 40 minutes after Buchanan was killed, Premkumar Walekar, a taxi driver, was filling his car with gasoline at a nearby Mobil station. Dr. Caroline Namrow was also at the gas station when she heard a "very loud bang" and then saw Walekar walk toward her, pleading, "Call an ambulance." Walekar collapsed to the ground and Dr. Namrow called 911 on her cell phone. She then attempted to administer CPR, but to no avail. Walekar was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.

The autopsy revealed that the fatal wound was from a long-range shooting. The examiner described a wound showing a "lead snowstorm" effect inside Walekar's chest, consistent with the firing of a high velocity rifle, such as a .223 rifle. After the October 24 arrest of Muhammad and Malvo, a ballistics examination showed that the lead fragments found in Walekar's chest had definitely been fired from the Bushmaster rifle recovered from Muhammad's car.

4. Maria Sarah Ramos

Less than 30 minutes later, Maria Sarah Ramos, a 32-year-old wife and mother who worked as a housecleaner, was shot through the head and died instantly. She was sitting on a bench at Leisure World Plaza, waiting for her employer to pick her up. A resident of a nearby retirement community was walking to the mailbox when he heard a "huge explosion" and saw Mrs. Ramos "slump over" with blood "pouring from her head."

The autopsy revealed that she had been shot at long range by a high velocity rifle. Officer Cynthia Martin discovered a bullet hole in the window of the Crisp and Juicy Restaurant just behind the bench where Mrs. Ramos had been sitting. A detective recovered a bullet fragment lying on the restaurant floor. The ballistics examination confirmed that the bullet fragment had been fired from Muhammad's Bushmaster rifle.

Kerry Turner worked for a doctor just across from where Maria Ramos had been sitting on the bench. As Ms. Turner parked her car that morning, she saw a dark blue Chevrolet Caprice, which she described as "beat up," as the only other car on the lot. She noted Mrs. Ramos sitting on the nearby bench. From inside her office, she subsequently looked out the window and saw Mrs. Ramos slump over with blood...