Olson’s Lawyers Say Trial Date OK

Prosecutors and defense attorneys for alleged SLA member Sara Jane Olson said Friday in a court conference that they are ready for her conspiracy trial to begin as scheduled Sept. 24.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Latin expressed skepticism during the status conference about defense lawyer Tony Serra’s availability for trial on that date.

The tightly scheduled Serra said in court that he has a trial starting Aug. 27 in Texas and another beginning Sept. 11 in federal court in Oakland. But Latin told the judge that the Bay Area trial actually starts Sept. 17.

Federal prosecutors expect the Oakland trial--of a defendant charged with 11 counts of bank robbery and possession of firearms--to start that day and take a month.

Serra said after the hearing that he thought the trial date had been moved up to Sept. 11 but admitted that the change might not have happened.

No matter the date, Serra told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler that the Oakland case might not go to trial and that if it did, it would be “relatively short . . . four days.”

Serra said he always schedules trials close together. “That’s the way I’ve done trials for 30 years--back to back,” he said after the hearing.

During the brief court session, which Minnesota resident Olson did not attend, her co-counsel Shawn Chapman told Fidler that she was “planning and hoping to file a number of motions around Sept. 4.”

“I’m overripe,” Serra said later. “Around Sept. 15, I’ll start getting adrenaline rushes.”

Olson is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the Symbionese Liberation Army’s alleged planting of bombs under two Los Angeles Police Department patrol cars. The bombs did not explode. She was arrested in 1999 after more than 20 years in hiding.

Serra said he saw little possibility that the Olson case would be settled before trial.

“I think our client would never agree to a compromise,” he said. “I think we’re not going to have a plea in this case.”

Prosecutors also told the judge that two elderly witnesses they had wanted to examine more than a month before the trial starts were still recuperating from recent illnesses. Both witnesses suffered health setbacks days before they were scheduled to give testimony in specially arranged court examinations in Sacramento. The witnesses live in suburbs of the state capital.

“We have chosen not to contact them this week,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Eleanor Hunter told Judge Fidler.

“Wise idea,” the judge replied.

“We’re going to call them gracefully and see how they’re doing,” Hunter said later, outside the courtroom.

“If they’re physically and mentally capable, we will take their testimony,” Latin said.