Criminal
May 31, 2001
Attorneys Want Charges Dropped
LOS ANGELES - Attorneys for Sara Jane Olson filed a motion Tuesday asking a Superior Court judge to dismiss misdemeanor charges against them, which they say pose conflicts of interest and would prevent them from adequately representing Olson.
Alternatively, defense attorneys J. Tony Serra and Shawn Snider Chapman want Judge Larry Paul Fidler to disqualify them and prosecutors Michael Latin and Eleanor Hunter from Olson's bombing conspiracy case.
The defense attorneys state in their motion that Latin and Hunter have a conflict of interest because they are considered witnesses against Serra and Chapman in a misdemeanor case filed against them. People v. Serra, 1CR07633 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed May 3, 2001).
On the eve of Olson's trial, the Los Angeles city attorney's office filed misdemeanor charges against Serra and Chapman, alleging they illegally revealed the addresses and telephone numbers of two police officers who are witnesses and alleged victims in the case against Olson.
Chapman maintains she is innocent and had nothing to do with the disclosure. Serra has stated that the information mistakenly was included in a court document.
If Fidler grants the motion, it would mark at least the third time Olson's attorneys have had to leave her case, which is now more than two years old. People v. Olson, A325036 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 26, 1976).
Anne La Jeunesse
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