D.A.’s Office Opposes Delay in Sara Jane Olson Trial

Attorneys for former fugitive Sara Jane Olson, who is accused of trying to kill two Los Angeles police officers while a member of a radical 1970s revolutionary group, do not deserve another delay in the upcoming trial, the district attorney’s office argues in documents filed Thursday.

Another continuance would unjustly reward Olson’s two lawyers for failing to prepare and for playing games with the court, Deputy Dist. Attys. Eleanor Hunter and Michael Latin say in the motion.

“The delays that have occurred have not been due to neglect or inattention, but purposeful stalling tactics intended to avoid trial,” the prosecutors argue.

Olson’s attorneys asked for a continuance last week. The trial was set to begin Jan. 8.

Hunter and Latin say Olson’s attorneys, who have changed several times, have repeatedly broken promises that they would be ready for trial and refused to keep appointments to look at evidence.

“There have been a total of five trial attorneys on the defense team,” the motion says. “Not one of these attorneys has ever made and kept an appointment to look at the evidence in this case.”

Olson is now represented by Tony Serra and Shawn S. Chapman. Three other attorneys have dropped out of the case. The defense maintains that the reason for most of the changes in attorneys is that the scope of the trial has expanded.