Jury Begins Deliberations in Firebombing of SUVs

A federal prosecutor charged Thursday that Caltech graduate student William Jensen Cottrell actively plotted and participated in the firebombing of sport utility vehicles in the San Gabriel Valley last year, while his defense lawyer insisted that his client was duped by two acquaintances who have since fled the country.

Those conflicting versions of events came as opposing sides presented closing arguments after eight days of trial testimony by 45 witnesses, most of them for the prosecution.

The jury retired to begin deliberations after receiving instructions on the law from U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner.

Cottrell, a 24-year-old doctoral candidate in physics, faces a minimum 35-year prison term if he is convicted of all charges. They include conspiracy, arson and using a destructive device in a violent crime.

Testifying in his own defense Wednesday, Cottrell admitted spray-painting environmental protest slogans on SUVs at four auto dealerships early on Aug. 22, 2003.

He said he was shocked and upset when one of his companions, Tyler Johnson, a recent Caltech graduate, broke the windows of some SUVs and tossed Molotov cocktails inside.

Johnson and Johnson’s girlfriend, Michie Oe, have been named unindicted co-conspirators in the case. Authorities believe they have fled the country.

In his closing remarks to the jury, Assistant U.S. Atty. Bruce Riordan accused Cottrell of trying to “write himself out of the story” by placing blame for the arsons on Johnson and Oe.

“Mr. Cottrell was in it all the way up to his headband,” Riordan said, referring to the headband that investigators found near one burned-out Hummer and later traced to the defendant through DNA analysis.

Riordan also sought to dispel any sympathy the jury might have developed for Cottrell as a result of his testimony. The prosecutor repeatedly accused the defendant of displaying “arrogance” and a “towering superiority” toward those who do not share his views on the environment. Cottrell had testified that SUV dealers were evil.

Defense attorney Michael Mayock responded by accusing the prosecution of engaging in histrionics to cover up a lack of evidence against his client.

Mayock contended that federal prosecutors were under pressure to charge Cottrell for the arsons because President Bush and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III had expressed an interest in the case. “Since Johnson and Oe weren’t available, they made Billy [Cottrell] their scapegoat,” he said.

He reminded the jury that authorities had previously arrested an innocent man for the arsons, Josh Connole, a peace and environmental activist from Pomona.

The defense lawyer also accused the FBI of pressuring four of Cottrell’s friends to alter their stories about statements he made after the arsons. In the end, Mayock said, all four testified that Cottrell never told them he committed any of the arsons.