Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Because the library is not open to the general public, researchers should contact the library to arrange access to the collection.

Preferred Citation

Commonwealth of Virginia v. John Allan Muhammad Case File, 2002-2004, Accession number 00037473, Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library, Richmond, Va.

Acquisition Information

The case file was donated to the Supreme Court of Virginia Archives in July 2015 and accessioned January 28, 2016.

Biographical/Historical Information

A summary of the judgment, Commonwealth of Virginia v. John Allen Muhammad , CR 54362, 54363, 54364, 54365, is provided in the Supreme Court of Virginia opinion affirming it, John Allen Muhammad v. Commonwealth of Virginia, Record Nos. 041050, 041051:

"From October 20 through November 17, 2003, John Allen Muhammad was tried before a jury in the circuit court of the City of Virginia Beach. The jury convicted Muhammad of all charges in the grand jury indictments [capital murder of Dean H. Myers in the commission of an act of terrorism, capital murder of Meyers and at least one other person within a three-year period, conspiracy to commit capital murder, and illegal use of a firemarm in the commission of capital murder]. In a separate sentencing proceeding from November 17 through November 24, 2003, the jury sentenced Muhammad to two death sentences for the capital murder convictions, finding both the future dangerousness and vileness aggravating factors. The jury also sentenced Muhammad to 13 years in prison upon the remaining convictions. At the conclusion of the sentencing proceeding, venue was transferred back to the circuit court of Prince William County. On March 9, 2004, the trial court imposed the two death sentences and the sentences of imprisonment as fixed by the jury. A final sentencing order was entered on March 29, 2004. "

The prosecution arose from the investigation of a series of sixteen shootings, including ten murders that occurred in Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia over a 47-day period from September 5 to October 22, 2002. The Supreme Court of Virginia upheld the convictions on April 22, 2005.

In July 2003, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush ordered the venue transferred from the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Prince William County Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette presided over the trial, which was held in the City of Virginia Beach. Judge Millette was circuit court judge in Prince William County from 1993 to 2007, when he was elected to the Court of Appeals of Virginia. He was justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia from 2008 to 2015.

Scope and Content

The case file contains Judge Millette's notes about the case, copies of court orders and motions, case law and legal research, including an appendix pertaining to Muhammad's motion to declare the death penalty unconstitutional; and correspondence pertaining to the case.