CNN
November 1, 2001
Angry Judge Orders Hearing on Olson Plea Deal
By Dree Declamecy
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The judge in the trial of alleged former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson on Thursday ordered a hearing for next week after the defendant spoke to the media about her plea deal Wednesday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office and Olson attorney Shawn Chapman said Judge Larry Fidler was angered by Olson's comments outside the courtroom about why she had made a plea deal.
"My understanding is that Judge Fidler is questioning whether or not to set aside the plea for the charges to which she pled," Chapman said. "I've never heard of anything like this happening, but we'll wait to address his concerns as best we can."
One possible outcome of that hearing could be that Olson's plea is thrown out and her case is returned to a pending trial status, her lawyer said.
Currently free on $1 million bail, Olson -- who was named in the indictment by her real name, Kathleen Soliah -- was charged with planting bombs under patrol cars in 1975, in an attempt to murder Los Angeles police officers. The action allegedly was in retaliation for the deaths of six SLA members in a police shootout the year before.
Olson pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of possessing bombs with intent to kill Los Angeles police officers and afterward said her decision was greatly influenced by the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"It became clear to me that the incident would have a remarkable effect on the outcome of this trial and I think that it's unfortunate, but the effect was probably going to be negative," she said.
Olson also reiterated her innocence and said she had resisted making a plea bargain until the very last moment. She did it, she said, for herself and her family.
"That's really what governed this decision, not the truth or honesty, but what was probably in my best interests and the interests of my family," she said.
Another Olson attorney, Tony Serra, said Wednesday that justice was not served by Olson's guilty plea.
"She didn't do it. We engaged in a pragmatic course. We could not get a fair trial under the conditions," he said. "She was being labeled a domestic terrorist ---- we couldn't get a fair trial, so ... we did what we believed was the only rational course."
According to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, prosecutors share the judge's concerns about the plea deal and about Olson's comments.
"One of the things that Sara Jane was asked in court yesterday by Deputy District Attorney Eleanor Hunter was, 'Are you pleading guilty because you are in truth and in fact guilty and do you stipulate that there is a factual basis for the guilty plea?' to which she replied, 'Yes.' In light of what she said after walking out of court, we can only assume she was lying to the judge, or lying to the press to save face. The judge is obviously concerned," said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.
Hunter said Wednesday that Olson should serve at least 20 years to life, per the terms described by a law passed in 1975, but that the California Board of Prison Terms would determine her release date. Hunter acknowledged that could come in three to five years.
"We felt very strongly in the case the evidence was overwhelming and had we gone to trial, I'm sure she would have been convicted on all counts," Hunter said. "She entered into a plea for conduct we thought she was guilty of, and we didn't really vary from our offer in this case."
Olson was scheduled be sentenced December 7 and would not have begun serving her term until January 18, Chapman said.
Copyright © 2001, CNN. All rights reserved.
saved from url: http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/11/01/olson.plea/index.html
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of criminal justice, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
