Olson, Media Ask Trial Be Open to TV

Two cable news organizations--and the defendant herself--have asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to allow televised coverage of the bomb-conspiracy trial of accused former Symbionese Liberation Army revolutionary Sara Jane Olson.

Until now, Judge James M. Ideman has barred television cameras from his courtroom, but permitted still cameras. He took the action several months ago on his own initiative.

But in an unusual move, Olson’s lawyers have joined with the news organizations--CNN and Court TV--in requesting live television coverage of the trial, scheduled to begin in February. The district attorney’s office says it does not oppose the idea, according to court papers.

Public exposure provided by live, televised coverage, defense attorney Stuart Hanlon said, “is one of the primary ways” to assure Olson a fair trial.

Lawyers for CNN and Court TV cited the dramatic nature of the case, as well as its historical value.

“It is difficult to imagine a more compelling case justifying television coverage than this trial, where the defendant is alleged to have belonged to an organization that advocated the overthrow of the government, conspired to assassinate police officers, and then proceeded to live an apparently crime-free live for the past 25 years,” wrote attorney Karen L. Frederiksen, who is representing the two news organizations.

A televised trial is important to “shed light on the social and political turbulence and violence of the 1970s”--a time in history that continues to be a matter of “intense” study and debate, she said.

Olson, the firms noted, already has complained about the secrecy of some of the proceedings.

“When a government known throughout the world for its public trials and tolerance of nonviolent dissent puts an alleged violent revolutionary on trial, that government gains further credibility by making that trial open to the nation, and indeed, to the world,” Frederiksen argued.

Then known as Kathleen Soliah, Olson was indicted by a Los Angeles County grand jury in 1976 and charged with conspiracy to kill police officers by planting bombs under squad cars in August 1975. As a fugitive, she built a comfortable life as a doctor’s wife and mother of three girls who was active in theater, her church and community groups. She is free on $1-million bail.

The request for live broadcast coverage, included among a stack of pretrial motions, is likely to be heard the week of Jan. 10. If it is granted, this will be the first criminal trial televised in Los Angeles County since the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Since the Simpson criminal trial, judges in the county have been reluctant to allow televising of trials or other proceedings. California law gives judges wide discretion on the issue, and almost without exception, judges have opted to keep the cameras out during the past four years.