Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
U.S. Attorney Eric Holder Jr. told reporters that ``we have sufficient information now'' to support the more serious charge, even though officials repeatedly have said Duran fired randomly at the White House on the afternoon of Oct. 29 and that Clinton was never in danger.
The indictment, brought by a grand jury, carries a maximum possible punishment of life imprisonment, a much harsher sentence than Duran faced under the 10 previous charges lodged against him, which include weapons violations, destruction of federal property and assaulting law enforcement officers.
Duran, 26, pleaded innocent to the attempted assassination charge Thursday afternoon in an appearance before U.S. District Judge Charles Richey. The judge gave Duran's lawyer, public defender Leigh Kenny, until early next week to disclose whether she is planning an insanity defense.
Holder refused to divulge any specific evidence supporting the new charge except to suggest it is based largely on statements given to the FBI this month by several people who knew Duran in his home state of Colorado and on observations by people in Washington.
The charge is supported ``by what people said Mr. Duran said while he was in Colorado,'' Holder said. It will become clear at Duran's trial that ``he attempted to take action to assassinate the president,'' the prosecutor said.
At the time of the shooting, Clinton had just returned from a trip to the Middle East and was watching a college football game on television in the family living quarters on the opposite side of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue, where Duran was standing when he fired an estimated 27 shots from a semi-automatic assault rifle.
Although no one was injured, at least eight shots chipped the exterior of the Executive Mansion and the adjoining West Wing, where Clinton has his office, and broke a window in the press briefing room.
Duran was subdued on the sidewalk by two passersby until Secret Service agents rushed to seize him moments later.
In stark language, the indictment says that ``on or about Oct. 29, 1994, within the District of Columbia, the defendant, Francisco Martin Duran, did knowingly and willfully attempt to kill William Jefferson Clinton, the president of the United States.''
by CNB