Unabomber Prosecutors Seek March Trial, but Defense May Urge Delay

Prosecutors want the trial of Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski to begin on March 31, but his lawyer says he does not think a trial will begin that soon.

Prosecutors filed their request Friday in federal court, in advance of a status conference scheduled for next week, when attorneys and Judge Garland Burrell will discuss the progress of the case.

Federal defender Quin Denvir, who is leading Kaczynski’s defense team, said he does not think the trial will begin that soon.

“I think that’s unrealistic,” Denvir said. “I don’t think we can possibly have all our motions filed, fully briefed and decided by then and be fully prepared for a trial.”

Investigators have been gathering evidence for 17 years, while the defense team has only had the case for a few months.

According to a potential trial schedule laid out by U.S. Atty. Charles Stevens, all motions in the case would be filed by Nov. 20, and the opposing sides would have until Jan. 10 to reply.

Pretrial motions could include challenges to the prosecution’s search of Kaczynski’s Montana cabin, a charge that excessive pretrial publicity has made a fair trial impossible, or the defense seeking to use an insanity defense.

The prosecution says in the report that its pretrial motions may include a request to get handwriting, blood and hair samples from Kaczynski. If the defense does not comply with the request, prosecutors will file a motion to compel the former math professor to give the samples.

Evidence of other bombings or planned bombings may also be introduced in the trial, even though these are not specifically covered by the 10-count indictment in Sacramento, according to court documents.

In the report, prosecutors also detailed the lengths to which they have disclosed evidence obtained during the 17-year investigation, one of the longest and most-expensive searches in U.S. history.

But they aren’t giving the defense every shred of their investigative efforts, the documents say. Because some of their investigative leads led nowhere, the prosecution will be holding back some reports out of privacy concerns for the individuals that are named in them. If the defense attorneys want the documents, they will have to request them on a case-by-case basis.

Prosecutors are not ready to disclose what witnesses they will call in court, the report says.