VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -
Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. told the jury in the murder case.
Muhammad, 42, whose face is badly swollen from a chronic toothache, did not spell out his reasons in open court but assured the judge that it had nothing to do with his health.
Muhammad had stunned the judge and his own attorneys when he demanded the right to act as his own lawyer just as opening arguments in the capital case were to begin Monday.
Although the judge said Muhammad represented himself competently, legal experts said he probably inflicted heavy damage on his case with a rambling opening statement that entirely failed to address the facts of the case. 17
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