Charges Filed Against Sara Jane Olson’s Lawyers

Two attorneys for Sara Jane Olson, alleged to be a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, have been charged with misdemeanors for allegedly disclosing the addresses and phone numbers of two police witnesses in her upcoming conspiracy trial.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office accused defense attorneys Tony Serra and Shawn Chapman of three counts of violating state law in connection with the November posting of the names and addresses of two LAPD officers on an Internet Web site, according to Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office. A May 3 letter notifying the attorneys of the charges, signed by Deputy City Atty. Alan Dahle, was released by Olson’s defense team Monday.

Olson, 54, is charged with conspiring in 1975 to kill two Los Angeles police officers by placing bombs under two squad cars while a member of a radical 1970s revolutionary group. The bombs did not detonate.

Serra couldn’t be reached for comment. Chapman’s partner, Dean Masserman, who plans to represent her on the misdemeanor charge, said Chapman is appalled.

Each count carries a possible penalty of up to one year in jail or a $1,000 fine. The two attorneys are scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court on May 17.

“First, factually speaking, it is completely unfounded,” Masserman said. “Secondly, it’s just a political rouse by minions of the D.A.’s office who are trying to interfere with [Olson’s] right to counsel and a fair trial.”

In November, the attorneys said that the addresses and phone numbers were inadvertently put in a public legal filing that was then posted on Olson’s Web site.

Masserman said the filing may lead to an additional delay in trial proceedings, which are scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

“Shawn can’t go to court and be arraigned on this case and handle Sara Olson’s trial at the same time,” he said.

The controversy over the names began in November after the attorneys filed a motion that included the phone numbers and addresses of Officer John Hall and former Officer James Bryan, who were in one of the two squad cars that the SLA allegedly targeted in 1975.

The information was posted on a Web site, https://www.saraolsondefense.com, which was created to raise money for Olson’s defense. The Web site, based in Olson’s hometown of St. Paul, Minn., routinely posts filings in the case.

Deputy Dist. Attys. Eleanor Hunter and Michael Latin complained to the judge that Hall and Bryan were in fear of their lives as a result of the posting. They asked the judge to double Olson’s $1-million bail and sanction Chapman and Serra.

Superior Court Judge James Ideman, who was handling the case at the time, was outraged by the posting. However he refused to double Olson’s bail or sanction the attorneys, saying he did not believe he had the power to do so. Instead, the judge suggested that the Los Angeles city attorney’s office review the case.

Chapman and Serra also on Monday asked the 2nd District Court of Appeals to delay Olson’s trial proceedings. Last week, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler denied their request for a fifth continuance. He did, however, grant them a short delay to give them time to appeal his decision.