14 ­ The Prince George Citizen ­ Tuesday, October 21, 2003 WORLD Judge allows accused to defend himself VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad won the right to serve as his own lawyer Monday in a surprise, last-minute request at his murder trial, then broke a year of stony silence by proclaiming his innocence in a rambling opening statement and asking witnesses questions such as: "Have you ever seen me shoot anyone?" It was not clear why Muhammad decided to fire his lawyers, who will serve as standby counsel in the first trial to come out of last year's shootings. Just last week, Muhammad told the judge that he was satisfied with his lawyers. Muhammad's decision to represent himself in the death penalty case means he could end up cross-examining his accusers, perhaps survivors of the shootings, maybe even fellow suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, who was in the courtroom for about two minutes Monday to allow a prosecution witness to identify him. In his 20-minute opening statement, Muhammad said nothing about the shootings except to deny involvement. "I know what happened. I know what didn't happen. They're basing what they said about me on a theory. If we monitor (the evidence) step by step, it will all show I had nothing to do with these crimes," he told the jury. Muhammad, 42, is charged in the slaying of Dean Meyers, a 53-yearold Vietnam veteran who was gunned down outside a northern Virginia gas station last October. He was the seventh victim in a threeweek shooting attacks that left 10 people dead in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Muhammad and Malvo, 18, were arrested last Oct. 24 at a highway rest stop in Maryland. Prosecutors have said the shootings were part of a plot to extort $10 million US from the government. Prosecutors say Malvo has made several statements to police and jail guards in which he confessed involvement in many of the attacks. But Muhammad barely spoke to investigators, and offered only terse, one-word answers to questions in many pretrial hearings. Muhammad spoke at length during his opening statement about the nature of truth, saying at one point, "Jesus said, `Ye shall know the truth.' " He also said he hopes to be found innocent "by the grace of Allah." "There's three truths. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I always thought there was just one truth," he said. "The facts should help us identify what's a lie, what's not a lie." Student who put box cutters on plane is charged BALTIMORE (AP) -- A college student who told authorities he placed box cutters and other banned items aboard two airliners to test security was charged Monday with taking a dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft and was released without bail. Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, told federal agents he went through normal security procedures at airports in Baltimore and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Once aboard, he said he hid the banned items in compartments in the planes' rear lavatories. A preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 10. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey Eisenberg said the government was not seeking detention, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Gauvey freed Heatwole on his own recognizance. Although Heatwole sent an e-mail to federal authorities saying he had placed the items aboard two specific Southwest Airlines flights, it took authorities nearly five weeks to find them. The judge set a number of conditions for Heatwole's release, including that he not enter any airport or board any airplane. Heatwole sat stoney faced during the hearing. His parents were in the courtroom but did not greet or acknowledge him during the hearing and did not comment afterward. The charge against Heatwole, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Sniper suspect fires his lawyers Hearing Aid Sale 1 Channel Digital In-The-Ear $ Regular $1147.00 ............2 yr. warranty 4 Channel Digital In-The-Canal $ Regular $2160.00.......2 yr. warranty 4 Channel Digital Completely-In-The-Canal $ Regular $2565.00 ......2 yr. warranty 3rd party exempt - limited time offer Financing O.A.C. 428915 849 1199 1399 FORT GEORGE HEARING CLINIC (formerly Beltone Hearing Clinic) AP photo Cherie L. Fowlie Government Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist 1533 8th Avenue · 614-9332 Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad addresses the jury as he delivers his opening argument during his trial at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court in Virginia Beach, Va., on Monday. TIMELY. TOPICAL. TRUSTED. Diana feared for her life: report LONDON (AP) -- A letter reportedly written by the Princess of Wales expressing fears that someone was plotting to eliminate her by tampering with the brakes of her car brought the painful story of her death back to the front pages Monday and prompted a call for a public inquiry. The Daily Mirror tabloid said Diana wrote the letter to her butler Paul Burrell in October 1996, some 11 months before the Paris car crash that killed the princess, her companion Dodi Fayed and the car's driver, Henri Paul. Fayed's father, Mohammed al Fayed, who has long contended the crash was part of a plot to kill the couple and not an accident, called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to hold a full and independent public inquiry or stand accused of colluding in a coverup. The letter confirmed "the suspicions I have so often voiced in public and which have thus far been ignored," al Fayed, the owner of Harrods department store, said in a statement. death, but no date has been set for it. Buckingham Palace has said there will eventually be a British investigation of Diana's death, since the law requires one, but no date has been announced. The letter was included in excerpts from Burrell's forthcoming book A Royal Duty, published Monday in the Daily Mirror. The paper printed a photograph of part of the letter. The excerpts quoted the princess as writing to Burrell that "this particular phase in my life is the most dangerous." She reportedly wrote that someone was planning "an accident in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry." The newspaper said Diana named the person she believed was plotting against her but that it could not reveal the identity for fear of a lawsuit. The name was blacked out in the photo of the letter. The Daily Mirror quoted Burrell as saying in the letter containing the allegation she told him, "I'm going to date this and I want you to keep it ... just in case." CITIZEN Subscribe now! Call 562-3301 00423067 PRINCE GEORGE Need a Will? Estate Problem? Call Pat Cotter WILSON, KING & COMPANY BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS AP file photo Phone (250) 960-3200 433061 Police prepare to take away the car in which Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed on Aug. 31, 1997 in Paris. A French judge has ruled that the driver's use of drugs and alcohol and the car's high speed caused the accident Aug. 31, 1997 in a Paris road tunnel. There has never been an inquiry in Britain. A Surrey county coroner said in August he would hold an inquest into Dodi Fayed's Don't leave our paper carriers in the dark! Please Blair back to work Florida passes law after heart scare to put comatose LONDON (AP) -- Tony Blair has "100 per cent recovered" from an irregular heartbeat, his office said Monday, and analysts suggested the British prime minister was unlikely to suffer any serious political fallout from the health scare. As if to rebut a tabloid headline -- "Is This the End of Blair?" -- he was back at work despite doctors' advice to rest for 24 hours after receiving an electric jolt Sunday to return his heart rhythm to normal. The 50-year-old prime minister was not at "full throttle" Monday, his spokesman said, but he planned to return to his normal, frenetic schedule Tuesday. Blair cancelled a scheduled speech in the House of Commons, delegating the task to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, but he held meetings in his office during the day, said the spokesman, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. Doctors say the briefly rapid and irregular beat was not a serious ailment, and did not raise any question about Blair's fitness to continue in his gruelling job. Blair has suffered through his toughest year as prime minister, facing intense opposition -- not least from within his own Labour party -- to his support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The failure of coalition forces to find evidence supporting his prewar contention that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction has put him in an even tougher political spot, and his popularity has slumped in recent polls. The spokesman said Blair was "fit, fine, in good spirits and 100 per cent recovered." He added that Blair would have a medical checkup within two weeks. Sir Charles George, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said the episode could have been triggered by stress, too much caffeine -- Blair is a tea-lover -- or some minor abnormality that had existed from birth. woman back on feeding tube If you have a news tip, call 562-2441, Local 753 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida House voted late Monday to give Gov. Jeb Bush the power to intervene in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed last week by her husband's order. The House voted 68-23 in favour of the bill. The state Senate planned to take it up Tuesday. The bill would give the state's governor 15 days to order a feeding tube to be reinserted in cases like Terri Schiavo's. The governor's power would be limited to cases where a person has left no living will, is in a persistent vegetative state, has had nutrition and hydration tubes removed and where a family member has challenged the removal. Schiavo, 39, meets all the bill's requirements. She has been at the centre of a decade-long court battle between her parents, who want her to survive, and her husband. Michael Schiavo contends he is carrying out his wife's wishes to not be kept alive artificially. Bush said in a statement earlier Monday that legislators understand the "unique and tragic circumstances of Ms. Schiavo's case, and I am hopeful the legislature will pass a bill immediately." Court-appointed doctors have described Schiavo as being in a vegetative state, caused when her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected potassium imbalance. ADMISSION TICKETS $3 adults $2 Seniors $5 Weekend 10 and under free PRINCE GEORGE CIVIC CENTRE Friday, November 7 10:00 am - 8:00 pm Saturday, November 8 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sunday, November 9 10:00 am - 5:00 00440315 pm When our carriers deliver your newspaper early in the morning, some streets are very dark... PLEASE LIGHT THE WAY 00440315 00435231 Don't forget your raffle tickets. Over 60 prizes to be won