Virginia ? Prosecutors reversed course Friday and said they supported moving the trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad out of Washington suburbs.

Prosecutor Paul Ebert said it would be inconsistent to leave the trial in Manassas, given that the judge in the case of fellow suspect Lee Boyd Malvo changed the venue in that case last week.

Circuit Judge Leroy F. Millette Jr. did not rule on the defense motion to move the case, but said he would soon.

Ebert said he still believed an impartial jury could be seated, but said, “I believe it would be inconsistent” with the decision in the Fairfax case.

Malvo’s judge last week moved the trial from Fairfax County to the city of Chesapeake, about 200 miles away.