Chief Moose's Attorney Fires Back

An attorney for Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said it was "outrageous" that an ethics panel feared Moose would reveal too much about the Washington-area snipers in a book.

The Montgomery County Ethics Commission ruled Thursday that Moose may not undertake the book project or consult on a movie about the investigation because he would be profiting from the prestige of his office and possibly compromise the prosecutions.

"If anyone wants to see the defendants brought to justice, it's Chief Moose," attorney Ronald Karp said Friday. A court challenge to the decision "is on the horizon," Karp said.

Sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad, 42, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, have been linked to 20 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, Georgia and the District of Columbia.

Malvo is awaiting trial in Fairfax County on capital murder charges in the shooting of FBI analyst Linda Franklin. On Friday, Fairfax County prosecutors filed motions saying they intend to prove that Malvo also killed Dean H. Myers, a killing that Muhammad has been charged with in Prince William County.

In the ethics case, the commission said it is Moose's job to work with prosecutors to bring the defendants to justice, and that he might impede that effort by catering to the "public's thirst for all of those 'inside' details."

Karp bristled at the statement, calling Moose a "very careful, meticulous man."

"I find that to be an outrageous statement," he said. "To argue that this chief, of all people, may say something to blow the criminal case is totally overreaching. For them to even suggest that he would give up inside facts to quench the public's thirst is a terrible thing to say."

Karp said he hopes to consult with Moose over the weekend to determine whether to file a court appeal.

Moose signed a deal in January to write a book, "Three Weeks in October: The Manhunt for the D.C. Sniper," to be published this fall. He also agreed to consult for a television movie. He has not disclosed the terms of those deals.

The panel said earlier this month that Moose can keep his teaching job at Montgomery College because it complied with the ethics law, which limits how county employees can profit from their jobs.