Rudolph defense seeks trial delay -- again
By Henry Schuster
CNN
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Attorneys for accused bomber Eric Rudolph are asking a federal judge to delay his trial until June 2005.
The trial is currently scheduled to begin on August 2.
The defense filed a motion late Wednesday setting out its new request for a trial date which, if granted, would mean Rudolph would go on trial two years after he was captured.
Rudolph faces the death penalty if he is convicted for the bombing of an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, on January 29, 1998. A police officer, Robert Sanderson, was killed in the blast and a nurse was badly maimed.
Rudolph was captured on May 31 of last year after a manhunt that lasted more than five years. He also is charged with a series of bombings in Atlanta, including the blast that went off during the Summer Olympics in 1996.
The defense was clarifying an earlier request for a delay, which it said was based on the large volume of evidence and the slow pace of getting that evidence turned over by the prosecution.
The federal prosecutors in the case have already filed one motion objecting to the delay and are expected to file another by next week.
Prosecutors say if the trial were to begin as scheduled, the defense would have already had 14 months to prepare. Additionally, they say they have turned over all requested material concerning the Birmingham bombings in a timely fashion.
As for the defense request for more time, "this need must be weighed against the needs of the victims and the community to have this case tried in a fair and expeditious manner," said the government's response.
Prosecutors said while the defense is also asking for a delay on the grounds that it needs more time to go through evidence from the Atlanta case, the government does not plan introduce any evidence relating to the Atlanta bombings in its case.
In its original request for a delay, the defense motion said, "The government has had more than six years to prepare. The government is seeking to kill Mr. Rudolph. Our investigation must be adequate and thorough."
It now says that one of the attorneys on the case -- Judy Clarke -- has a scheduling conflict with another case that is expected to begin in February 2005 and last for several months. Just where the case will be tried has yet to be decided.
The trial is set for Birmingham, but the defense has also filed a motion for change of venue, arguing that Rudolph can not get a fair trial in Birmingham. That motion will be heard on June 22.
