Bomb Threat Delays Jury Seating in Amy Carter Trial

After a delay caused by a bomb threat, jury selection began Monday for the trial of Amy Carter and Abbie Hoffman on charges stemming from an anti-CIA demonstration at the University of Massachusetts.

Carter, Hoffman and other defendants milled around the Hampshire County Courthouse for about 20 minutes after authorities cleared the building and made certain there were no explosives.

Carter, 19-year-old daughter of former President Jimmy Carter, said she hoped the trial would “help call attention to what the CIA is doing.”

Carter, a sophomore at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and Hoffman, 50, told reporters outside Hampshire District Court that the demonstration had been a legal response to illegal CIA activities in Central America.

Hoffman and Carter were among 60 people arrested in the sit-in last Nov. 24. The protesters occupied the building housing the university’s public relations staff after campus police barred the doors of the adjacent administration hall.

Carter has pleaded not guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. Police said she was one of nine people who helped to block a police bus taking arrested protesters to be booked.

Hoffman, one of 51 people arrested inside the building, has pleaded not guilty to trespassing and disturbing a school.

Judge Richard Connon scheduled opening arguments for today after the panel of six jurors is seated. Lawyers said they expect the trial to last a week if the judge allows all witnesses to be heard.

Among the witnesses the defense attorneys expect to call are Ramsey Clark, attorney general under President Lyndon B. Johnson, and former CIA agent John Stockwell.