Trial of Accused SLA Member Delayed for 3rd Time

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Thursday delayed for a third time the bombing conspiracy trial of accused 1970s urban guerrilla Sara Jane Olson to give her new defense team time to get ready.

Olson, who prosecutors allege was a soldier in the Symbionese Liberation Army, a radical terrorist group, was to go on trial in August on charges of plotting with SLA members to kill Los Angeles police officers in August 1975 with pipe bombs planted under their patrol cars.

But Superior Court Judge James M. Ideman set the trial for Jan. 8--a year after the original trial date--after Olson’s new defense attorneys, J. Tony Serra and Shawn Chapman, said they needed more time to prepare.

Olson’s original lawyers, Stuart Hanlon and Susan Jordan, withdrew from the case for family and health reasons. Alternate Public Defender Henry J. Hall also withdrew after two months, citing an unspecified conflict.

The judge noted that none of the lawyer departures were Olson’s fault. “Ms. Olson has just had plain bad luck” with her attorneys, he said, adding he wanted her to have “a fair shot.”

Serra was appointed Friday to join Chapman, who was appointed to the case a few weeks ago. Serra vowed that he would be ready for trial in January.

“We start from Square 1, we start from scratch,” Serra told Ideman, saying that Jordan, who left the case last week, had yet to turn over the files, which include about 15,000 pages of court transcripts and police and FBI reports. The prosecution has identified 150 potential witnesses.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Eleanor J. Hunter protested the delay, arguing that prosecutors have waited 25 years to bring Olson to trial. Much of the delay occurred because Olson, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, was a fugitive, Hunter said.