LOS ANGELES : Judge Rebukes Lawyers in Church Bomb Plot Case
The federal judge presiding in the case of alleged skinhead Christopher David Fisher scolded prosecutors and a defense attorney Friday for bickering over pretrial evidence.
Fisher, 20, is charged with making and selling illegal weapons--mostly pipe bombs--and with plotting to blow up the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.
Prosecutors say the Long Beach man also was the leader of the Fourth Reich Skinheads, a white supremacist group.
U.S. District Judge William Matthew Byrne originally scheduled Friday’s hearing to set a trial date for Fisher and his potential co-defendant, a juvenile whose name has been withheld. But Byrne said he had not determined whether the co-defendant would be tried as an adult.
The judge reacted angrily when told by Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Greenberg that video and audio surveillance tapes of Fisher and an FBI informant--potentially key evidence--had not been provided to defense attorney Anna Ho.
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