Rudolph lawyers claim contamination by feds

The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) -- Lawyers for serial bombing suspect Eric Rudolph tried to show Thursday that federal agents -- not Rudolph -- may have spread traces of explosives from a deadly abortion clinic bombing in Alabama to his North Carolina home.

Prosecutors have said that eyewitnesses and traces of explosives found in Rudolph's home, including on a towel and chair, link him to the 1998 Birmingham bombing that killed a police officer and critically injured a nurse.

However, under defense questioning during an evidentiary hearing Thursday, agents Richard Strobel and Gregory P. Czarnopys of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives both said they did not swab their hands to check for such traces before searching Rudolph's trailer.

Czarnopys also testified that the explosive element used in the bomb and found in Rudolph's home was easily spread. Czarnopys said he changed clothes and showered between leaving the scene at the Birmingham clinic and searching Rudolph's home, which would have removed any traces of explosives. Strobel and Czarnopys also testified they wore special suits during the search to prevent any contamination of potential evidence.

Captured last year in North Carolina after more than five years on the run, Rudolph has pleaded not guilty in the federal case, which goes to trial in the spring. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Rudolph is also accused in the fatal Olympic park bombing in Atlanta in 1996 and two more bombings in Atlanta in 1997.

Earlier in the hearing, a prosecution witness testified that Rudolph, while a fugitive, told a family friend that the government was trying to frame him for the blast.

FBI agent Joel A. Moss testified Wednesday that Rudolph professed his innocence when he showed up at George Nordmann's home looking for supplies more than five months after the bombing.

Nordmann told agents that he provided Rudolph with food and other items to help him remain on the run. Nordmann was not charged with any crime.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/11
/05/eric.rudolph.ap/index.html

Posted by Editor at November 5, 2004 09:07 AM