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by Alex DeMetrick
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJZ/AP) ― John Allen Muhammad struggled to mount a defense Thursday in his second trial for the 2002 sniper shootings, as the judge blocked him from presenting some evidence and questioning a police detective who Muhammad claims prodded his accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo to confess.

Muhammad, who is defending himself against murder charges for six Maryland sniper killings, called witnesses who saw other suspicious vehicles near crime scenes. He also introduced a search warrant from a Virginia home where investigators found bullets similar to those used in the shootings and more than 20 guns.

But he was repeatedly cut short by prosecutors and Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Ryan as he tried to question witnesses that included a Secret Service handwriting expert and a Prince William County, Va., investigator. Ryan said Muhammad was not asking proper questions and didn't introduce evidence correctly.

Ryan also quashed Muhammad's subpoena for Fairfax County, Va., Detective June Boyle, who questioned Malvo after he and Muhammad were arrested Oct. 24, 2002.

Malvo told Boyle that he was the triggerman in all 13 sniper shootings, but testified this week that he lied to protect Muhammad and said Muhammad was the triggerman in 10 shootings. When prosecutors objected to Muhammad's plans to call Boyle, he claimed Boyle fed sniper details to Malvo when he confessed.

"The information that Lee Boyd Malvo allegedly told her he didn't tell her," said Muhammad, who wanted to probe Boyle about notes she took during the lengthy interview. "She told him all the details pertaining to this crime."

Malvo agreed to plead guilty to the same six Maryland murders this week and gave a detailed inside account of the planning and execution of the October 2002 sniper shootings. He said Muhammad devised the scheme to terrorize the region, and planned even more killings.

Both Muhammad, 45, and Malvo, 21, have already been convicted of slayings in Virginia. Malvo is serving a life term in prison while Muhammad was sentenced to death. The second trial in Maryland has been billed as insurance if the Virginia verdict against Muhammad was ever overturned.

The pair also is suspected of earlier shootings in Maryland, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington state.

Muhammad claimed he and Malvo were simply driving around the Washington area looking for the children Muhammad had lost in a custody battle. He said in his opening statement that he would prove himself and Malvo innocent.

But during their three-week case, Montgomery County prosecutors presented a wealth of evidence against Muhammad. Ballistics experts testified that the Bushmaster rifle found in Muhammad's car when he and Malvo were arrested was used in the shootings. Malvo's DNA was found at crime scenes, and witnesses saw their Chevrolet Caprice and Muhammad near several shootings.

Muhammad began his defense late Wednesday, presenting several witnesses who said they saw other suspicious vehicles or people near crime scenes. On Thursday, two more people said they made similar police reports.

One, Heidi Mansen, saw the shooting of Pascal Charlot on Oct. 3, 2002 as she was stopped at a traffic light in Washington, D.C. She saw a red car stopped next to her drive away quickly and followed it, dialing 911 to report the license plate.

Mansen shifted uncomfortably as Muhammad questioned her, and said afterward that it was "scary" to face him. She realized that Muhammad wanted to use her to cast doubt on his involvement, but she wasn't convinced.

"I'm just one of many people who saw something and didn't see the reality of it," she said. "He's guilty."

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)