Snipers could face death

WASHINGTON -- The federal government plans to seek the death penalty in the Washington-area sniper case, Justice Department officials said Tuesday, setting up a legal joust with two states that already have filed capital charges in the case.\nThe federal charges will be filed against John Allen Muhammad, 41, in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md.\nThe charging complaint does not name the younger sniper suspect, 17-year-old John Lee Malvo, because he is not an adult. A juvenile can be charged with a federal capital offense but cannot be executed.\nOfficials are barred by federal law from discussing any charges against a juvenile.\nMuhammad was to be charged under the Hobbs Act, which allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty for extortion of money in which a slaying is involved. A note believed left by the sniper at the scene of a Virginia shooting demanded $10 million.\nMuhammad is also being charged with use of a firearm that resulted in death and interruption of state commerce also resulting in death. Officials said other unspecified charges were expected.\nTen people were killed and three wounded during a three-week shooting spree in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, starting Oct. 3. The shootings terrorized the area, leading to school shutdowns and cancellation of many outdoor activities.\nOfficials in Maryland and Virginia, where all but one of the shootings occurred, already have filed murder charges that could bring the death penalty for Muhammad and Malvo.\nIn Montgomery, Ala., prosecutors have filed capital murder charges against the pair for a shooting during a liquor store robbery last month.\nJustice Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said filing the federal charges does not necessarily mean the federal government will seek to be the first to prosecute the suspects. Negotiations about the schedule for trials will continue with the states, the officials said.\n"This doesn't mean that we go first," one official said.\nAll the charges stem from the three-week series of shootings this month.