Experts - Muhammad jurors may lean toward prosecution

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The jury of suburbanites, many with ties to the military, that will hear the case against sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad is likely to lean toward the prosecution, jury experts said.

"In general, Virginia juries are going to be prosecution juries," except in more urban areas, said Donald H. Smith, an Old Dominion University sociology professor who studies jury behavior.

"If I were Mr. Muhammad, I would say it's as good as you can get out of Virginia Beach," Smith said.

Opening statements are expected today in Muhammad's capital murder trial in the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers, a Vietnam veteran. Meyers was gunned down outside a northern Virginia gas station last October, the seventh victim of a three-week shooting spree that left 10 people dead in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

The trial was moved to Virginia Beach after defense lawyers argued that every northern Virginia resident could be considered a victim because of the fear the shootings inspired.

But this southeastern Virginia city of 425,000 is not ideal for Muhammad's lawyers, experts said.

"Coming here was not a particularly good thing for the defense," Smith said, because Virginia Beach residents tend to be more conservative and less educated than the residents of Prince William County, where Meyers was shot.

Less educated jurors tend to be absolutists, while more educated jurors are more willing to see shades of gray, he said.

The panel of 12 jurors, plus three alternates, was chosen Friday after four days of questioning. It includes a retired Navy pilot, the spouse of a retired Navy mechanic, an Air Force retiree whose husband also was in the Air Force and a former Navy officer whose husband retired from the Navy.

Muhammad's own military experience is unlikely to be helpful, Lisnek said.

"Not in this case. This is somebody who allegedly used his military prowess and skills for evil," he said.

Muhammad faces the death penalty under two statutes in the shootings. One allows for the death penalty in multiple murders. The other is an anti-terrorism law passed after Sept. 11, 2001, that explicitly allows for a death sentence even if the defendant never fired a weapon.

The trial is the first to come out of the crime spree prosecutors have said was part of a plot to extort $10 million from the government. Malvo's trial, in the Oct. 14 shooting death of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, begins Nov. 10 in Chesapeake, also in southeast Virginia.

Both suspects are being tried in Virginia because of the state's strong death penalty laws -- Virginia is second only to Texas in the number of executions since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.

The number of women on the jury -- 10 -- suggests the defense may already be focusing on keeping Muhammad from being executed, Lisnek said.

"The women may be more sympathetic and are generally less likely to put someone to death," Lisnek said.

One of the jurors, a former Navy officer, said during questioning from the defense that she is conflicted about the death penalty because she believes in "the basic 'thou shalt not kill"' but she also believes in following the law.

Another woman, a widow who said she had been a stay-at-home mother, said she thought the death penalty was warranted at times, such as for "certain cruel crimes." But she also stressed that "it would be very important for me to weigh the evidence."

Another juror with military ties -- the retired Navy pilot -- is more attractive to the defense than might be expected because his brother was killed by police as he robbed a store, Smith said.

"He sees both sides of the world," he said. "I'm surprised the prosecution would allow him on" the jury.

Even if the jury leans toward the prosecution as expected, sparing Muhammad the death penalty might be an easier task.

"All the defense has to do is find one juror who won't go along," Lisnek said.

Associated Press writer Matthew Barakat contributed to this report.