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Malvo statements likely will require court ruling
FAIRFAX, Virginia (CNN) -- The juvenile suspect in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings was talkative during a police interrogation last week, but a ruling from a judge may be necessary to determine if those statements will be admissible in court. Meanwhile, Malvo's court-appointed guardian told CNN Monday that he was "escorted out of the building" that John Lee Malvo was in during a police interrogation. Todd Petit said he went to the Fairfax County Police Department in an effort to stop the interrogation. A police major told him the criminal investigations bureau was interviewing Malvo, took his business card and told him he would pass it along, Petit said. He said he was then "escorted out of the building. "As his guardian, I should have been there," Petit said. Malvo, 17, and John Allen Muhammad, 41, are accused in the three-week October sniper spree that killed 10 people and wounded three others in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. They also have been charged or named as suspects in three September shooting deaths in Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana. Malvo , a Jamaican citizen, allegedly told investigators during a seven-hour interrogation that ended at 1 a.m. Friday that he was the triggerman in some of the shootings, a senior law enforcement source told CNN over the weekend. Included in the slayings Malvo allegedly admitted to was the October 14 killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Home Depot in Falls Church. It is the October 14 case that will provide the first trial venue for Malvo. Muhammad, who often claimed to be Malvo's stepfather, must first stand trial in Price William County in the shooting death of Dean Harold Meyers in Manassas. If convicted of capital murder, both could face the death penalty. No attorney was present during the interrogation, according to Michael Arif, who was appointed as Malvo's attorney in the Virginia case last Thursday, just a few hours before the questioning began. Malvo's court-appointed attorney in the federal case no longer had jurisdiction after that complaint was dismissed. A senior law enforcement source told CNN that Malvo was very talkative during the Virginia interview, in marked contrast to his first interrogation in Baltimore, during which he barely spoke and tried to escape by climbing into the ceiling when his questioners briefly left the room. Virginia prosecutors used that incident to argue for Malvo's continued detention in the county jail rather than a juvenile facility. Arif said he will try to suppress any statements Malvo made during the questioning, and his client will plead not guilty. Horan has declined to discuss the interrogation, as has the Justice Department. Malvo's next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. December 5. Petit said he has not given up in his effort to have Malvo transferred from the county jail, where he is being held in isolation from the adult prisoners, to a juvenile facility. He said he also plans to ask Fairfax County Prosecutor Robert Horan for information that might help him to locate the suspect's mother, whom Horan has said is thought to be in the Seattle area. Malvo's responsiveness during seven hours of questioning by local and federal authorities in the D.C.-area sniper case last week was in stark contrast to his virtual silence under initial questioning after his arrest, officials said. According to CNN's source, Malvo described the sniper shootings as a type of military operation and said he communicated with his partner through two-way radios. Such radios were found in the 1990 Chevy Caprice in which Malvo and Muhammad were arrested October 24. The most recent questioning of the younger suspect occurred after federal authorities dropped criminal complaints against the two so that they could be transferred to Virginia for their first trials -- the only jurisdiction where Malvo's age would not stand in the way of a death sentence. Muhammad has provided investigators with no information that could be considered useful in his prosecution, sources have told CNN. He has another court appearance scheduled for Wednesday. -- From CNN correspondents Patty Davis, Kelli Arena and Kathleen Koch
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