Mental Defense Set in SUV Case

A Caltech graduate student accused of torching scores of sport utility vehicles at four San Gabriel Valley auto dealerships last year plans to present a defense of mental disability when he goes on trial later this month.

Lawyers for William Jensen Cottrell, 23, contend he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism marked by impaired social awareness and functioning.

U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner this week denied a prosecution request to postpone Cottrell’s trial from Oct. 26 until January to give their medical expert more time to evaluate the defense claim.

Cottrell, who was studying for a doctorate in physics at the Pasadena campus, was indicted in March on charges of conspiracy, arson and using a destructive device in the early morning attacks in August 2003, which damaged or destroyed 125 vehicles and a commercial building. He faces at least 35 years in prison if convicted.

Investigators are searching for two alleged accomplices who are believed to have fled the country.

In court papers filed last week, defense attorneys Michael Mayock and Marvin Rudnick said Cottrell had been diagnosed as suffering from Asperger’s syndrome by Gary B. Mesibov, a University of North Carolina psychologist and a recognized authority in the field.

Quoting from what they said was Mesibov’s report, the defense lawyers said the disorder makes if difficult for Cottrell “to accurately gauge others’ intentions and makes him very slow to react if he does figure out that his understanding of a social situation was in error.”

In arguing against the prosecution’s request for a trial delay, the defense lawyers said they informed the government in August that they planned to mount a defense based on Asperger’s syndrome.

Assistant U.S. Attys. Beverly Reid O’Connell and Jason de Bretteville disputed the defense claim, contending that they did not receive a copy of Mesibov’s report until Sept. 15.

They said they were in the process of retaining their own expert on Asperger’s syndrome.

Klausner, however, rejected the government’s request for a delay.