DC sniper Muhammad agrees to ‘stand by’ lawyers in Maryland trial News
DC sniper Muhammad agrees to ‘stand by’ lawyers in Maryland trial

[JURIST] DC sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad [Wikipedia profile] agreed Monday to allow three attorneys to stand by and provide advice upon request when he begins representing himself at his trial [JURIST report], set to begin May 1. Maryland Judge James L. Ryan granted the defendant's request [JURIST report] to represent himself last month despite protestation from Muhammad's court-appointed attorneys that he was not competent to stand trial [AP report].

Muhammad has been sentenced to death for one of the ten DC-area killings [PBS report] in Manassas, Virginia and now faces six counts of first degree murder in Maryland. Lee Boyd Malvo [Wikipedia profile], Muhammad's accomplice, has already been sentenced to life [JURIST report] for one of the shootings in Virginia. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org