ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
The federal government has no case against a woman whose alleged quip about a bomb in her luggage resulted in her arrest by the FBI, the woman's lawyer contends.
John B. Russell Jr., the attorney for librarian Patsy Jane Hansel, said he is confident that a federal court hearing won't be necessary to clear up the matter with the U.S. attorney's office by next week.
Hansel was arrested by the FBI Aug. 7 and charged with giving false information about a bomb on an aircraft. The charge is a felony that carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
Hansel, 47, and her husband, James J. Govern, of Williamsburg, were flying to Seattle, but bad weather made it impossible to make their USAir connecting flight in Charlotte, N.C.
A ticket agent at Richmond International Airport rerouted the couple to an American Airlines flight. Their luggage, however, remained aboard the USAir jet, said Russell. American Airlines refused to let the couple board without their luggage for security reasons, according to an affidavit filed by the FBI.
Hansel turned to her husband and remarked, ``This is the way we planned it. That we fly American, that our bags go on USAir, and that the bomb in our bags can blow up their airplane. Now do you understand?'' the affidavit by Special Agent Paul T. Messig said.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23, said David Schiller, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case.
``My client hasn't done anything criminal,'' said Russell. ``The way things look like now, there will not be a hearing. Either there will be something worked out or they'll take the case to the grand jury.''
Robert O'Neil, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and director of UVa's Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, said it will be interesting to see how U.S. attorneys interpret the charges against Hansel.
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB