Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
It took only one day to seat a jury in the trial of six members of the
Freeman group on charges stemming from their 1996 standoff on the
Montana plains. Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday morning.
Before the panel of five women and seven men were selected, Monday's
session was highlighted by outbursts in the court, with a federal judge
banishing four cursing and shouting members of the Freeman group to
holding cells even before prospective jurors were brought in.
Three of the members were dragged, in and out, by federal marshals
because they refused to walk into the courtroom. A fourth was ferried
in a wheelchair.
Two other members were not disruptive and were allowed to remain at the
defense table. A panel of 100 prospective jurors was summoned to the
federal courthouse and questioned into the late afternoon.
The six are the first group members to face trial on charges stemming
from the group's 81-day standoff with the FBI on the plains of eastern
Montana in 1996. It is being heard by U.S. District Judge John
Coughenour of Seattle, Washington.
Defendant calls judge 'traitorous bastard'
Federal marshals said the defendants refused to change out of their jail
coveralls or leave their cells. Marshals forcibly changed their clothes
and dragged them to the courtroom.
Jon Barry Nelson, 42, of Kansas, ripped up his name plate as he was
brought to the defense table. Steven C. Hance, 48, and his sons, John R.
Hance, 21, and James E. Hance, 25, all of Charlotte, North Carolina,
also were brought into the courtroom against their will.
But as marshals dragged Steven Hance halfway across the courtroom, he
shouted, "You're a bunch of criminal bastards." After that, Coughenour
ordered the disruptive defendants taken to a holding cell where they
could watch proceedings on closed-circuit television.
As he ordered them expelled, Coughenour began: "Let the record show ..."
James Hance broke in, yelling, "Let the record show I'm placing you
under arrest, you traitorous bastard."
He jeered at U.S. Attorney Sherry Scheel Matteucci: "Remember that,
bitch."
2 defendants allowed to remain
John Hance, who was wheeled in and out the courtroom in a wheelchair,
was told he could remain if he conducted himself appropriately. But
after returning from a recess, Hance lunged at his nameplate and ripped
it up, and the judge ordered him expelled as well.
Two defendants -- Edwin F. Clark, 47, who emerged as a leader late in
the standoff and helped bring it to a bloodless conclusion, and Elwin
Ward, 57, of Salt Lake City -- walked into the courtroom and took
their seats without disruption.
All six are charged with being accessories by aiding federal fugitives
-- other group members in the stronghold -- to avoid arrest during the
standoff. The U.S. attorney has said she expects the trial to last
several weeks.
The defendants, who say U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over them,
have all refused court-appointed lawyers and will defend themselves.
The standoff at the compound, 30 miles west of Jordan, Montana, began
March 25, 1996, when undercover FBI agents lured two Freeman leaders,
LeRoy Schweitzer and Daniel Petersen, outside with a sting operation.
More than 100 FBI agents at a time, augmented by Montana Highway
Patrol officers, ringed the compound until June 13, when the last
holdouts surrendered.
Schweitzer, Peterson and 12 others face a separate trial in May.
--
Kathy E
"I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow
isn't looking too good for you either"
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