Prosecutors: Rudolph arrested properly

By Val Walton / The Birmingham News

Eric Robert Rudolph's statements to police after he was found behind a North Carolina supermarket can be used during his trial because his arrest was legal, prosecutors contend.

The government said officers had sufficient cause to arrest Rudolph, who had a flashlight and binoculars and told officers he was a homeless man named Jerry Wilson.

"The officers possessed more than enough information to reasonably suspect that Rudolph was either a burglar, trespasser or fugitive from justice," prosecutors argued in a court filing Friday.

Rudolph was arrested May 31, 2003, in Murphy, N.C., after eluding law enforcement for five years. He is jailed without bond in the Jefferson County jail awaiting trial in May on charges he bombed a Southside abortion clinic, killing an off-duty police officer and critically injuring a nurse. Rudolph has pleaded not guilty.

In a Sept. 20 motion, Rudolph's lawyers question the 41 minutes of Rudolph's detention after he was found at 3:30 a.m. among milk crates. He was ordered at gunpoint to lie on the ground and was handcuffed. His lawyers question whether police actions were legal and if any statements he made should be kept out of his trial.

The government disputes the defense claims. Prosecutors said they intend to present some statements Rudolph made on his lack of a need for a Social Security number or identification, and his purpose for being behind the supermarket.

The filing also details Rudolph's actions when he was found and how police determined he was not a homeless man who had hitchhiked to Murphy from Ohio, but the man who was wanted in the abortion clinic bombing.

The government's filing said Rudolph acknowledged his true identity after officers took him to jail and studied a computer printout of a wanted poster.

The filing said Rudolph laughed and said something to the effect of, "I'm Eric Robert Rudolph. You've got me."


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Posted by Editor at October 12, 2004 05:30 PM