Rudolph defense says explosives traces may have been contaminated
Eric Rudolph's lawyers portrayed government explosives testing as a sloppy mess Wednesday and suggested tainted evidence was used to link the serial bombing suspect to a deadly abortion clinic blast.
Agents with pens, watches and a camera could have unwittingly transferred traces of dynamite from the bombing scene in Birmingham to Rudolph's trailer in North Carolina, defense lawyer Michael Burt said while questioning a federal agent.
Burt said internal audits from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms laboratory that tested items from the bombing seem to reveal problems including unprotected evidence and explosives stored near examination areas.
ATF explosives chief Richard Strobel denied most of Burt's claims and said the defense was overstating any problems with scientific evidence about explosives traces.
U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith Jr. is holding a hearing on a defense request to throw out much of the scientific evidence that prosecutors say links Rudolph to the bombing of New Woman All Women Health Care in Birmingham on Jan. 29, 1998. The blast killed police officer Robert "Sande" Sanderson and critically injured nurse Emily Lyons.
Rudolph, who has pleaded not guilty, could receive the death penalty if convicted on the federal charge.
While Rudolph rarely shows any emotion in court, he patted Burt on the back in greeting and looked into the spectator gallery several times.
Before the hearing recessed until Thursday morning, the forensic chemist who collected the explosives traces and other evidence from the bombing scene described the grim work he performed. Lloyd T. Erwin of the ATF office in Atlanta told about putting remnants of Sanderson's boots and what appeared to be pieces of his uniform into metal evidence cans.
In questions to Strobel, Burt contended explosives traces could have been transferred from the bombing scene to Rudolph's trailer near Murphy, N.C., through such common items as writing pens, wristwatches and cameras.
On a big screen, Burt showed photos that were taken during the search of Rudolph's trailer. In one photo, a gloved hand was shown holding a pen near a pair of shoes. In another, a gloved hand with an exposed wristwatch was shown near boots.
Burt suggested that explosives traces from the clinic could have been transferred into the trailer by such common items or even by the photographer who took the pictures.
But Strobel said any agents who looked for evidence at the bombed clinic would have showered, changed clothes and put on protective suits before entering Rudolph's trailer five days after the bombing.
Strobel denied that a photographer would have touched any evidence.
"His duty is to document things as they exist," he said. "Why would a photographer go in and just start rummaging around?"
Agents already had collected samples for explosives testing when the photos were taken, he said.
Burt also produced a series of internal audits mentioning apparent problems with a now-closed ATF lab that tested evidence in Rockville, Md. One report mentioned explosives being stored near work areas, and another said evidence was left out in the open by an examiner who was training other workers at the time.
"Is that true?" Burt asked of the unprotected evidence.
"I would assume so if it's in the report," Strobel said.
Strobel described many of the items mentioned in the audits as insignificant "documentation" problems.
"You have to look at the issues involved," he said.
Captured in 2003 in North Carolina after about five years on the lam, Rudolph also is charged in the 1996 bombing that killed a woman at the Atlanta Olympics and a pair of Atlanta-area bombings in 1997. Preliminary jury selection in the Alabama case is April 6, but the trial probably won't begin before late May or June.
The hearing is being held under extraordinary security, with Rudolph shackled and surrounded by U.S. marshals any time he is outside the courtroom. Outside, barricades were erected to keep vehicles away from the three-story brick courthouse.
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Posted by Editor at March 30, 2005 11:21 AM
