Kaczynski claims coercion, wants to go to trial
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -
Convicted Unabomber Theodore
Kaczynski says he was coerced into
pleading guilty to three murders and
wants a federal appeals court to allow a
trial, which could end in a death sen
tence.
The guilty pleas “were induced by
the threat of a mental-state defense that
Kaczynski would have found unen
durable, as well as by deprivation of
constitutional rights,” such as the right
to control his own defense and repre
sent himself, he wrote.
In a 58-page, handwritten brief,
composed in a maximum-security fed
eral prison in Colorado, Kaczynski
asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals to be allowed to withdraw his
guilty pleas and go to trial.
As an alternative, he requested a
new U.S. District Court hearing, before
a different judge, on whether his rights
were violated when his lawyers insisted
on using a defense based on his mental
condition.
“Kaczynski’s counsel’s portrayal of
him as a grotesque lunatic would have
been broadcast nationwide, and this
was a prospect that anyone might have
found unendurable. Suicide to avoid
public humiliation is by no means
unknown,” wrote Kaczynski, who
attempted suicide in jail after his
lawyers told him of their plans.
His brief was due Tuesday but was
filed Dec. 28. The document delves
into complex constitutional arguments,
abounds with legal citations and refers
to the defendant as “Kaczynski” and to
the writer as “we.”
Kaczynski, a Harvard-trained
mathematician who became a forest
recluse living in Montana, pleaded
guilty in January 1998 to mail bomb
ings that killed three people and injured
23. Two deaths occurred in Sacramento
and the third was in New Jersey.
His guilty plea came after the U.S.
District Judge Garland Burrell of
Sacramento refused to let him represent
himself or delay the trial to let
Kaczynski get a lawyer who would pre
sent a defense based on his views about
technology and the environment.
Kaczynski began the appeal shortly
after he pleaded guilty.
The appeals court allowed
Kaczynski to reopen the case in
October, ruling that he had made a sub
stantial showing his rights were violat
ed when he was denied the right to rep
resent himself or prevent his lawyers
from offering evidence about his men
tal condition.
After further arguments, the three
judge appellate panel will decide
whether to let the case go to trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve
Lapham, the government’s lawyer,
declined comment. Before Kaczynski
pleaded guilty, prosecutors argued that
he should be allowed to control his
defense, even at the risk of his life.
The Justice Department initially
sought a death sentence for Kaczynski
but accepted a life sentence after a
court-ordered psychiatric examination,
conducted over his objections, conclud
ed he was a paranoid schizophrenic.
Kaczynski’s writings have connect
ed the attacks to his campaign against
technological tyranny.
Michael Mello, a Vermont Law
School professor who has written a
book on the case and helped Kaczynski
with an earlier legal filing, said Tuesday
he thought Kaczynski could represent
himself adequately.
If he is convicted and die trial goes
to a penalty phase, Mello said,
Kaczynski is “the best person to explain
... why he did what he did... why he
doesn’t deserve to die for what he did,
or why he wants to die.”
—CITY COUNCIL—
City Council ordinance
covers antennae placement
By John Hejkal
Staff writer
Legal representatives for AT&T
Wireless and Sprint PCS proposed
amendments to a city council ordinance
Tuesday that would regulate the place
ment of antennae for wireless equip
ment within the city.
Loel Brooks, representing AT&T
Wireless, addressed the council about
what he saw as vague wording in the
ordinance.
Antennae would have to be “unob
trusive” or “minimally obtrusive” under
the ordinance. Brooks pointed out that
the W'ords may have been unclear and
were not defined within the ordinance.
Brooks’ amendment to change
renewal proceedings for an antenna
license from a public to an administra
tive process failed by a 3-4 vote of the
council. ,
Harvey Cooper, legal counsel for
Sprint PCS, objected to a portion of the
ordinance requiring new antenna towers
of more than 100 feet to be able to
accommodate two additional providers
along with die main carrier.
He said the extra ground space need
ed could force a company building a
new tower to pay rent for three times the
land it needed if no extra users of the
antennae could be found
Cooper’s proposed amendment to
the ordinance eliminating the require
ment to provide land space for extra
providers failed by a 3-4 vote.
The city council passed the ordi
nance 7-0.
Rick Sullivan, AT&T Wireless gov
ernment affairs director, said he was sat
isfied with the results.
“We’ve worked with staff on the
document itself,” he said. “There were
some agreements to disagree.”
Fox quits show for health reasons
■ ‘Spin City’star will
leave show but not enter
tainment business because
of Parkinson’s disease.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - “Spin
City” star Michael J. Fox said Tuesday
he is leaving the ABC sitcom, but not
show business, because of his fight
against Parkinson’s disease.
Fox, who revealed in 1998 that he
suffers from the degenerative neurolog
ical disorder that affects movement,
said this will be his last season with die
highly rated series.
“I could not be more proud of the
show ... and all that we have accom
plished over the last four years, yet I feel
that right now my time and energy
We love it when you
visit. Stop often.
dailyneb.com
would be better spent with my family
and working toward a cure for
Parkinson’s disease,” the actor said.
“This does not mean I am retiring
from acting, producing or directing,
only that I want to relieve the strain of
producing and performing a weekly
network series,” he said in a statement
ABC, which had no comment on
the show’s future, called “Spin City” a
“labor of love” for Fox.
“Clearly there are more important
things in life, and we wish Michael and
his family our heartfelt thanks and sup
port,” the network said. “We look for
ward to working with Michael in his
future endeavors.”
Fox, who is up for a Golden Globe
award Sunday, plays a hard-charging
deputy mayor on the series, now in its
fourth year. His co-stars include Barry
Bostwick and Heather Locklear, who
joined the cast this season.
The former star of the sitcom
“Family Ties” and the “Back to the
Future” movies told of his incurable ill
ness in the December 1998 issue of
People magazine.
He decided to reveal his affliction
because he thought he could help his
family and other sufferers of the dis
ease. Fox has three children, a son and
twin daughters, with actress Tracy
Pollan.
In 1991, Fox noticed a “twitch” in
the little finger on his left hand while on
the set of the film “Doc Hollywood.”
Although a doctor told him he
could function for many years, the dis
ease progressed, and he suffered stiff
ness in his entire left side and violent
tremors.
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