Olson Bid to Delay Trial Is Denied

Ruling that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks won’t prevent accused SLA member Sara Jane Olson from receiving a fair trial, a Los Angeles judge cleared the way Monday for jury selection to begin.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler denied a defense request to delay Olson’s conspiracy trial until January because of public anger over terrorism.

“The meter is tripped on this case,” Fidler said. “We are now engaged in trial.”

On Monday afternoon, the court’s jury commissioner began eliminating potential jurors who could not commit to serving six to nine months, the estimated length of the trial. Attorneys expect to begin selecting from a panel of 150 prospective jurors Oct. 29 in court and to deliver opening statements in early December.

If the court cannot find enough unbiased jury candidates, Fidler plans to reconsider postponing the long-awaited trial. He expects, however, to be able to find 12 jurors and 12 alternates who can separate emotions from evidence.

Though disappointed by the judge’s ruling, defense attorney Shawn Chapman said she has no plans to appeal.

Olson is charged with conspiring to kill Los Angeles police officers in 1975 by planting bombs under two cars. The bombs did not go off. Prosecutors say Olson attempted the alleged bombing as a member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army, best known for its kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst.

The 54-year-old homemaker, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, was arrested in July 1999 in Minnesota after a quarter of a century as a fugitive. If convicted, she could face a sentence of life in state prison.

Chapman argued Monday that public fervor to root out terrorists would make it nearly impossible for her client--charged with an act of domestic terrorism--to receive a fair trial if jury selection began this month.

Chapman also said that police officers and FBI agents have gained heroic status since the attacks and that jurors will be less likely to question their credibility.

“People are rooting for and counting on the FBI to protect and save them from terrorists,” she said. “It would be very difficult for jurors to properly analyze evidence of FBI and police officers.”

The defense also gave the judge a statement by Karen Jo Koonan, a trial consultant with the National Jury Project who has participated in two jury selections and two jury research projects in the last month.

“While the unprecedented events of Sept. 11, 2001, are still fresh in people’s minds, it will be difficult to find a fair and impartial jury who will judge this case with its issues of bombing, death and political conspiracy,” Koonan wrote.

Prosecutors countered that after 2 1/2 years and more than half a dozen continuances, Olson should face trial. Deputy Dist. Atty. Eleanor Hunter said that she believes jury questioning may take longer than usual, but that she has faith in the system.

Prosecutors also want to get the trial underway because they are worried about the health of several elderly witnesses who are expected to testify.

Fidler said it’s “nothing more than speculation” to assume jurors will be influenced by the Sept. 11 attacks.

As Olson made her way out of the courtroom greeting her supporters, she said she is ready to get on with the trial. “I’m not surprised I didn’t get the continuance, nor am I disappointed,” she said.

Her brother, Steve Soliah, expressed similar sentiments, but he predicted the court may not be able to find a jury that will give his sister a fair trial during this political climate.

“I think the jurors will have a real tough time with this issue,” he said.

About 20 of Olson’s family members and friends attended Monday’s hearing after several of them staged a 15-minute rally in front of the Criminal Courts Building. They tried to give Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley a petition that they said bore the names of 1,100 people asking that he drop the charges.

The petition urged Cooley to stop what Olson’s supporters called a “political trial under the guise of justice.” They believe she is being prosecuted because she is a political progressive who has not been hesitant to criticize the American government.

The attorneys return to court Monday to argue pretrial motions.