Judge Allows Olson’s Guilty Plea to Stand

Accused SLA member Sara Jane Olson admitted in court Tuesday that she assisted in a failed 1975 bomb plot, prompting a Los Angeles judge to let stand the guilty plea she entered last week.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler ordered the hearing because of Olson’s claims of innocence outside of court minutes after she pleaded guilty to attempting to bomb two LAPD cars.

Even as the 1970s activist told the judge that she stood by her plea, she continued to deny a direct role in the bomb attempt.

“I did not make that bomb,” Olson told the judge Tuesday, her voice shaking. “I did not possess that bomb. And I did not plant that bomb. But under the concept of aiding and abetting, I plead guilty.”

Fidler then pressed further: “Because you are, in fact, guilty?”

“Yes,” Olson responded after a brief pause.

At the unusual hearing, Fidler scolded Olson for her behavior last week, and told her to either reaffirm her guilt or withdraw her plea.

“A guilty plea is not a way station on the way to a press conference proclaiming one’s innocence,” the judge said in a statement. “The integrity of the criminal justice system demands and the public confidence in it demands that [Olson] make a choice. She cannot have it both ways.”

“If you are innocent, I won’t accept your plea,” he said. “You can go to trial.”

Olson, a 54-year-old Minnesota resident who was arrested in 1999 after nearly a quarter century on the lam, entered her surprise guilty plea Oct. 31 to two counts of attempting to explode a bomb beneath police cars. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop two counts of possessing a bomb and one count of conspiring to murder the officers.

Moments after entering her plea, Olson walked outside the courtroom and told reporters that she pleaded to something she hadn’t done. Olson and her attorneys said she entered the plea because of fears she would not receive a fair trial as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Fidler said Tuesday that he didn’t buy Olson’s reasoning because potential jurors had not yet been questioned about their views on terrorism. Jury selection was scheduled to start this week in the trial, which was expected to last at least six months.

Family members and friends of Olson helped fill the courtroom for the tense, 45-minute session at the downtown Criminal Courts Building.

Defense attorney J. Tony Serra told Fidler that his client wanted to maintain her plea and that her comments after last week’s court session were in line with what she has said all along--that she never possessed or planted the bombs. He conceded that “her choice of words uttered to the media were inartful, legally imprecise.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Latin asked the judge to review the agreement with Olson, saying he was not “comfortable with the plea as it stands.” Latin said he did not want Olson to plead guilty based on what he thinks were false assurances from her defense attorneys on how much time she could serve for the crimes.

Olson will be sentenced Dec. 7 to 20 years to life in state prison, but defense attorneys have said she will have to serve only five years, four months behind bars. They acknowledge that under state law, the Board of Prison Terms could extend the sentence to up to life in prison if board members determine that she is a danger to the community. But Serra contends that is extremely unlikely since she has been a “model citizen, model mother” while living undercover for more than two decades.

To guarantee that Olson understood what she was admitting to, Fidler read her a brief explanation of the law of conspiracy and aiding and abetting. Then he asked her if, based upon that information, she was guilty of the charges to which she pleaded last week. In 1976, Olson, then known as Kathleen Soliah, was indicted on charges of conspiring with SLA leaders Bill and Emily Harris to undertake the Los Angeles bombings.

When Olson didn’t answer immediately, Fidler told her she could meet with her attorneys privately. Serra later said he had to persuade Olson during that brief meeting that Fidler was not trying to publicly humiliate her. “She didn’t want to go through the whole thing like she was a child,” he said.

After a five-minute break, Olson returned to court and admitted her guilt. But when it came to answering a question about the possibility of her serving life in prison, she hesitated again--until the judge ordered her to respond. Finally, she said that she understood.

“You wish your plea to stand?” Fidler asked one final time. After yet another long pause, Olson responded, “Yes.”

Fidler then said, “The court, at this time, finds that the plea that was entered on Oct. 31 is a valid plea. . . . There’s no reason in this court’s mind now, after clarification, to withdraw the plea. The plea stands.”

After the hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Eleanor Hunter criticized Olson for her comments in court. “She’s an actress through and through,” she said of Olson, who has been active in community theater in the Twin Cities. “Do I think an innocent person is going to jail? No.”

Defense attorney Shawn Chapman said she was frustrated about the disputes with the district attorney’s office over the plea agreement. “Under these difficult circumstances, it’s hard to feel good about it,” she said.

Olson’s family is “devastated, sad and somber,” Chapman said.

Unlike at previous court hearings, Olson did not comment outside of court Tuesday.

Olson support committee member Hadassa Gilbert said she believed Fidler was annoyed about Olson’s behavior last week and was punishing her for saying she couldn’t get a fair trial.

“I think the judge was exacting his pound of flesh,” Gilbert said.

Andy Dawkins, a lawyer and Minnesota state representative who has known Olson for more than 20 years, said he would have handled the plea differently.

“I would have had her make it clear the first time she pleaded, like she did today, instead of saying one thing in court and a different thing outside court. That’s not good public relations,” Dawkins said.

Still, Dawkins was surprised by her admission. “I always thought she had made friends with people who had done terrible deeds,” he said, “but I did not expect a plea that she was guilty of aiding and abetting in any way making bombs to kill people.”

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Times staff writers Steve Berry and Peter Hong contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Hearing Excerpts

Judge Larry Paul Fidler: Based on the law as I explained it to you and your consultation with your attorneys, at this time based on that law, are you indeed guilty of the charges you entered a plea to the other day?

Sara Jane Olson: I want to make it clear, Your Honor, that I did not make that bomb, I did not possess that bomb, and I did not plant that bomb. But under the concept of aiding and abetting, I plead guilty.

Judge: Because you are in fact guilty?

Olson: Yes.

Judge: All right. Thank you very much.

Later in the hearing, Fidler sought assurances from Olson that she understood the possibility that the state Board of Prison Terms could order her to serve a life term.

Judge: You understand the sentence you could face?

Olson: You know, I don’t want to answer that.

Judge: Well, you have to, Ms. Olson. Do you understand what I just explained to you?

Olson: Yes, Your Honor, I understand.

Judge: All right. You wish your plea to stand?

Olson: All right.

Judge: Is that a “yes”?

Olson: Yes.

Judge: Thank you.