Bomb Suspects May Represent Themselves
A federal judge likely will be asked today to delay the trial of three North Idaho men accused of bombings and bank robberies in the Spokane Valley.
But the request may not matter if the defendants proceed with plans to fire their attorneys and ask to represent themselves.
Charles H. Barbee, Robert S. Berry and Verne Jay Merrell reportedly want to present their own defense before a U.S. District Court jury as soon as possible.
The three were indicted Dec. 5 on 12 counts of bombing, bank robbery and companion crimes that occurred last April and July.
The FBI continues its search for other suspects in the crimes, which prosecutors say were acts of domestic terrorism. The suspects are linked to the white supremacy and anti-government movements.
The three Sandpoint men have a constitutional right to a speedy trial, now set for Feb. 10, but could agree to a delay. They have been in jail, without bond, since their arrests Oct. 8 near Yakima.
The defendants also have the legal right to not use their experienced, court-appointed defense attorneys.
If U.S. District Court Judge Frem Nielsen agrees with that request at today’s hearing, he might appoint the defense attorneys to stay on in a stand-by capacity.
Defense attorneys Roger Peven, John Rodgers and Aaron Lowe want to delay the trial so they can wade through more than 5,000 pages of documents provided by the Justice Department.
“There is work here from 50 FBI agents and unprecedented delays in completing the FBI lab work,” Rodgers said. “If it’s going to choke those guys, you can see how it’s overwhelming to a single defense attorney.”
“We need time to digest it,” he said.
The attorneys contend they can’t adequately prepare an effective defense without more time.
Many criminal cases are overturned if appeals courts determine there is ineffective assistance of counsel during trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice said prosecutors don’t intend to request a delay, but wouldn’t oppose one.
“We expect to be ready to go to trial by Feb. 10,” Rice said.
The government is asking the court to require the defendants to disclose if they intend to use alibi defenses.
If they maintain they were somewhere else and couldn’t have committed the Valley robberies and bombings on April 1 and July 12, the defendants must turn over a list of their alibi witnesses to prosecutors before trial.
Prosecutors also are seeking court orders to take full-body photographs of the defendants so they can be used in computer-comparisons with surveillance camera photos taken during the bank robberies.
The prosecution also is seeking a court order that will require Barbee, Berry and Merrell to give handwriting samples to the FBI.
, DataTimes