Three accused domestic terrorists want to stand trial immediately, but their attorneys say they need more time to prepare a defense.
Weighing those competing constitutional rights, U.S. District Court Judge Frem Nielsen decided Tuesday to grant a two-week trial delay for the North Idaho men.
Charles Barbee, 44, Robert Berry, 42, and Verne Jay Merrell, 51, all of Sandpoint, are now scheduled for trial March 3 in Spokane.
Their trial originally was set for Monday, but was delayed last month to Feb. 18.
Barbee's attorney, federal defender Roger Peven, wanted the trial postponed until July.
Nielsen said the new date should provide adequate preparation time.
"I'm not asking you to agree with my conclusion, I just hope you understand the reason for it," the judge told the defendants.
Their court-appointed attorneys say they can't adequately prepare for trial, be effective and help guarantee a fair trial without more time.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Harrington told the judge that because those issues could be grounds for a later appeal, it would be prudent to grant a short delay.
But the prosecutor also said the court must weigh the rights of more than 100 victims and witnesses who will be called to testify.
Some of the victims and other witnesses already are experiencing "trial anxiety and are worrying about testifying in this case," Harrington said. The public and the victims also have the right to speedy justice, he told the court.
The three men are accused of bombings, bank robberies and other crimes that occurred April 1 and July 12 in the Spokane Valley.
The defendants have been in jail without bond since their arrests Oct. 8. FBI agents followed them from Sandpoint to a Portland bank that authorities say may have been a robbery target.
"We've been incarcerated for 127 days," Barbee told the judge, "and I'm opposed to any delay."
He said Peven was not representing him when he sought to have the trial delayed. "This isn't speedy by any stretch of the imagination," Barbee told the judge.
Any additional delay will merely give federal investigators "more time to purchase more witnesses against us," the former AT&T; supervisor said.
Again Tuesday, Berry suggested the judge should dismiss the charges because he and the other defendants are "ambassadors from the Kingdom of Yahweh" and have diplomatic immunity.
The judge said he already denied that request. Berry asked if the denial was in writing.
"If you haven't received it, you will," the judge shot back.
Merrell didn't say anything during Tuesday's hearing. But he's been writing articles printed in "The Trade N' Save," a give-away newspaper published in LaClede, Idaho. In the current issue, Merrell accused the judge of being a "high priest" who conducts courtroom ceremonies worshiping Satan.
"If you worship our creator, Yahweh, you will not be allowed to defend yourself in Satan's court," Merrell wrote.
"The priest judge not only has his ministers run the prosecution, but they speak for the defense, too."
Merrell wrote that if he, Berry or Barbee "try to speak about the other court of our creator, the high priest judge will shout 'contempt' and the U.S. marshals will whisk us out of the court before people can figure out what is going on.
"It is bad for Satan's court to have the people figure out what is going on, for they might revolt," Merrell wrote.
He concluded: "Spread the word and come to this trial, for we three are rams of the flock of Messiah and are prepared to battle Satan."
