The defense had begun to lay its case earlier this week for Carlos Bledsoe, otherwise known as Abdulhakim Muhammad, accused of murdering a Soldier in an attack on a recruiting center in Arkansas.<\/p>\n
The case was suddenly halted earlier this week when Muhammad agreed to a plea deal — guilty, life without parole<\/a>.<\/p>\n Muhammad’s lawyer had originally told the jury their job was easy:\u00a0 His client did it<\/a>.<\/p>\n “This isn’t about whodunit or who didn’t do it,” said Patrick Benca, a lawyer for Abdulhakim Muhammad. “Mr. Muhammad was the one that had his finger on the trigger.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The prosecution used that to their advantage:\u00a0 <\/p>\n Prosecutors rested their case Thursday after playing video of Muhammad confessing to the shootings, which he said were retribution for U.S. military action in the Middle East.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Muhammad is a self-proclaimed “jihadist” who had sought a federal terrorism trial as a platform for his politics.\u00a0 At the same time, it appears he was denied an opportunity to plead guilty<\/a>:<\/p>\n Muhammad tried to plead guilty in the case, but prosecutors would have had to withdraw the death penalty as a possible sentence. A defendant can\u2019t enter a guilty plea in Arkansas if he could be sentenced to execution.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n