Attorneys for Lindh Want His Trial Moved to Bay Area

Attorneys for John Walker Lindh argued in court Thursday that he cannot get a fair trial in suburban Washington and that his case on charges of betraying his country should either be dismissed or moved to his native Bay Area.

The lawyers, led by San Francisco attorney James J. Brosnahan, complained that federal prosecutors had Lindh indicted in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Va., because it is near the scene of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon and home to countless residents with connections to the U.S. military and the federal government.

“John Lindh seeks dismissal of this case because, simply put, he cannot get a fair trial,” Brosnahan said in papers filed in federal court in Alexandria.

“The government, through repeated, prejudicial public statements, has made a fair trial virtually unattainable. The Constitution allows for only two possibilities: a fair trial or no trial.”

But moving the case to San Francisco would ease “a high level of bias [that] persists against Mr. Lindh” in the Washington area and also provide a convenience to the attorneys and potential witnesses and be in the best “interest of justice,” Brosnahan said.

Long Trip for Parents

He noted, for instance, that Lindh’s parents are from Marin County, and likely would be called to testify about controversial e-mails their son sent from Central Asia, where he was studying Islam and where he joined the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“His parents reside in the Northern District of California,” Brosnahan said. “The two-thousand mile barrier [to Alexandria] will make it difficult for them to attend the trial and offer their emotional support.”

Changes of venue, often sought in high-profile court cases, are seldom granted, especially when judges are aware that potential jurors from all over the country may have similar opinions on a defendant’s guilt or innocence.

But it has happened. A noteworthy example is when the Oklahoma City bombing trials for Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols were moved to Denver after a federal judge ruled that the people of Oklahoma were too biased against the defendants to find an impartial jury there.

Federal officials prosecuting Lindh declined to comment Thursday on the defense team’s request.

However, they are expected to respond in court with their own explanation of why the trial, now scheduled to start in August, should remain in Alexandria.

Brosnahan said federal officials, from the Bush White House to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, mounted a concerted campaign to poison public opinion against Lindh, even to the point of alleging that Lindh had a role in the Sept. 11 attacks.

No 9/11 Link Shown

However, evidence so far in the case has shown that while Lindh may have known about efforts by the Taliban and Al Qaeda to mount terrorist strikes against the U.S., he has not been directly linked to the airplane hijackings.

Rather, he is facing life in prison on charges of taking up arms against the United States and betraying his country by joining Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network.

“The Department of Justice chose Alexandria as the venue for trials such as Mr. Lindh’s, in part, because of the symbolism of trying suspects near the site of the Pentagon attack,” Brosnahan said.

“They chose ... an area that is home to the Pentagon and thousands who were directly affected by the destruction of 9/11, but bears no ties to Mr. Lindh or his alleged crimes.”

Yet holding the trial in San Francisco, he said, in addition to making things easier for the Lindh family, also would accommodate potential witnesses in California “who would be greatly inconvenienced” by having to travel for trial to Virginia.

He also noted that while Lindh’s alleged crimes occurred abroad, his religious convictions “may become an issue at trial, and he began his study of religion in the Northern District of California.”