Olson’s Lawyers Seek 5th Delay

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge temporarily halted trial proceedings for alleged former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson on Monday after her attorneys refused to go forward unless they were given more time and money to prepare.

Judge Larry Paul Fidler granted attorneys Tony Serra and Shawn Chapman, who faced being held in contempt of court, a nine-day reprieve to enable them to ask the 2nd District Court of Appeal to order the trial delayed until September.

“This is not a personal ego battle,” Fidler said of his refusal to grant a fifth continuance in the case. “I’m doing what I feel is appropriate.”

Olson, 54, is charged with conspiring to kill two Los Angeles police officers in 1975 while a member of the SLA, a small band of revolutionaries best known for kidnapping newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.

Olson, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, allegedly placed bombs under two squad cars. The bombs did not detonate.

The homemaker was arrested in July 1999 in St. Paul, Minn., on an outstanding warrant issued two decades earlier after she was indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury.

Fidler could have ordered Chapman and Serra jailed or fined them for refusing to begin the pretrial proceedings, which are expected to be followed by jury selection. But Fidler decided against it.

“In my 18 years as a judge, I have never held an attorney in contempt,” Fidler said. “I would like to keep it that way.”

Deputy Dist. Attys. Michael Latin and Eleanor Hunter argued against another delay in the case, which was initially scheduled to go to trial in January 2000.

Fidler ordered both sides to return to court May 9. He said he expects the appeals court panel to make a decision by then.

After the tense two-hour hearing, Olson, surrounded by her mother, three daughters and husband, Dr. Fred Peterson, said she had no choice but to seek another delay. Olson, who is free on $1-million bail, said she is eager to end the ordeal.

“It’s been almost two years, as the district attorney pointed out, since I was arrested. And I need to get ahead with this trial so I can get on with my life,” Olson said.

The hearing, in a courtroom packed with about two dozen Olson supporters, began soon after attorneys Serra and Chapman arrived with their own attorney, Stuart Hanlon.

Hanlon, who was prepared to represent Serra and Chapman if they were found in contempt, told Fidler the attorneys could not begin because, in part, they have not been given adequate time to study 8,000 pages of evidence given to them by the prosecution. Hanlon asked the judge to reconsider his decision two weeks ago denying a continuance.

“It is not in arrogance, anger or frustration,” Hanlon said. “It’s out of total concern for their client.”

Hanlon also said the defense team had not listened to 112 audiotapes only recently released by the prosecution. They include conversations Hearst had with her family while in jail for bank robbery.

Hanlon also told Fidler that efforts to scrutinize defense costs are jeopardizing Olson’s right to a fair trial.

Although Olson is married to a well-paid emergency room doctor, she has been declared indigent, meaning county taxpayers are paying to defend her. So far, her defense has cost $500,000.

Though Serra says he is handling the case for free, Chapman is paid as a court-appointed lawyer.

The previous judge on the case did not place any limits on the amount the defense could spend. After taking over four months ago, Fidler quickly put a stop to that.

He has limited Chapman’s fee to $200,000, the same cap that attorneys defending death penalty cases receive. However, Fidler has told her she can seek more money if she can justify it.

Fidler has been scrutinizing travel expenses for defense team members and expert witnesses, as well as questioning the size of the defense staff. In addition to Chapman and Serra, Olson has two paralegals, three investigators and two discovery attorneys. Hanlon, Olson’s former attorney, is also helping.

Hanlon told Fidler it is not Olson’s fault that the case is so costly to defend. He said it was the court’s decision to allow evidence about the violent history of the SLA.

“If the court is going to decide to try the entire history of the SLA, then somebody has to pay to defend her,” Hanlon said.

Fidler said he believes Olson is entitled to have a reasonably funded defense. But he said she is not entitled to the same level of defense as O.J. Simpson, who was responsible for his own legal bills.

“We’re not cutting Ms. Olson off,” Fidler said, but “you are not entitled to a dream team.”