ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170060
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
An attorney for Unabomber suspect Theodore J. Kaczynski has asked a Montana judge to block the federal government from prosecuting his client for crimes related to a 17-year bombing spree, saying investigators' leaks to the news media have ``permanently poisoned'' the jury pool and compromised Kaczynski's right to an unbiased grand-jury inquiry.
In a forcefully worded motion to U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell in Helena, Mont., filed late Monday, assistant federal defender Michael Donahoe contended Kaczynski could not get a fair trial as a result of a ``lethal news blitz'' by federal law-enforcement authorities since the suspect was arrested April 3 at his remote Montana cabin.
The motion was made as a federal grand jury in Great Falls, Mont., prepares to begin hearings today on whether to indict Kaczynski, 53, a reclusive Harvard-educated mathematician, on a charge of possessing an explosive device. Authorities have been holding him on that charge since he was taken into federal custody.
Kaczynski has not been charged with any of the mail bombings attributed to the elusive Unabomber. The bombings began in 1978 and continued sporadically until last year, killing three people and injuring 23 others. A special Justice Department team has been assigned to the case, and the FBI this week released a list of evidence it seized from the cabin, including documents, maps, bomb-making materials and an explosive device.
``The government's conduct in this case has been primitive and most nearly resembles ... lynch-mob mentality,'' Donahoe wrote.
``The government should not be allowed to proceed before various grand juries throughout the country that have been permanently poisoned by the government's outrageous conduct,'' the motion said. ``Because once those indictments are handed up, and undoubtedly they will be, the government will be able to argue that proceeding to trial is the appropriate cure for its misbehavior.''
Justice Department officials said prosecutors plan to respond to the court in writing within the allotted 10-day period. But department sources speaking on the condition of anonymity said the defense motion has no legal basis and is to be expected in such a high-profile case.
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