No Delay In Ex-Radical's Trial

In spite of claims by Sara Jane Olson's lawyers that fear of terrorism will sway jurors against her, a judge on Monday refused to delay her trial on charges alleging a 1975 Symbionese Liberation Army plot to bomb police officers.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler said the trial, which has been delayed for more than two years, should start next Monday.

Olson was indicted in 1976 on charges of planting nail-packed bombs under a police car in a plot by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army to kill police officers. She eluded arrest for 23 years until she was apprehended in 1999 living in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she had changed her name from Kathleen Ann Soliah to Sara Jane Olson and married a doctor and raised three children.

"There is no reason we can't begin the voir dire process," Judge Fidler said, referring to questioning of potential jurors. "Obviously if we can't get a fair panel, then the case will have to be put over."

"The meter has tripped on this trial. We are now engaged in trial," Fidler said.

Olson's attorney, Shawn Chapman, argued that the former Symbionese Liberation Army member will be incapable of receiving a fair trial with the reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. She said other terrorist-linked cases had been granted motions recently to continue to early next year.

"It would be difficult, if not impossible, for someone accused of terrorism to get a fair trial in this climate," Chapman told the court.

"In times of crisis, people feel more vulnerable and look to the government to protect them," Chapman said. "When police officers are so heroic, jurors don't want to question their credibility."

Chapman said the allegations are likely to scare jurors.

Olson is charged in the 1976 indictment of conspiring with other SLA members to kill Los Angeles police officer with pipe bombs that never exploded. She has pleaded innocent.

"I'm disappointed with the ruling, but I expected it," Chapman said after the hearing. "But we're ready to go forward and Sara's ready to go forward. She has had to sit back for more than a year as we've filed motions to continue."

Olson spoke briefly to reporters, saying that she never expected her case to be continued again.

"If it looks like people can't put aside their feelings these days, we'll just have to see," Olson said. "I hope the situation will make people more honest."

A small crowd of Olson supporters, including Olson's mother, Elsie Soliah, assembled outside the courthouse and carried banners demanding a fair trial for Olson.

Chapman said she expects the jury selection process to take three weeks.

Judge Fidler said the trial may take between four and nine months to complete.

Patricia Hearst, the one-time SLA hostage who joined her captors, is to testify against Olson, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah.

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