Cottrell blamed the arson on accomplices..."It was the one-armed man!"
..and good for the judge in halting this particular serial...
Posted on 01/05/2005 1:07:09 PM PST by TFFKAMM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A graduate student convicted in the $2 million firebombing of scores of sport utility vehicles lost a bid Monday for a new trial.
A federal judge rejected the motion by 24-year-old William Jensen Cottrell, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Cottrell had claimed the court improperly barred his attorneys from presenting evidence that he suffered from a type of autism that made it difficult for him to understand the intentions of his alleged accomplices.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner sided with prosecutors, who argued that Cottrell's complaint was "irrelevant to the issues at trial."
Cottrell, a doctoral candidate at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, was found guilty in November of conspiracy to commit arson and seven counts of arson in the August 2003 rampage.
More than 100 vehicles were damaged or destroyed at dealerships and homes in the San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles by vandals who spray-painted "polluter" and "ELF," an acronym for the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front, on some of the vehicles. Cottrell blamed the arson on accomplices. Two fellow students have been identified by prosecutors as "fugitive co-conspirators."
Cottrell is to be sentenced March 7. He faces at least five years in prison, according to prosecutors.
Didn't anyone tell this guy that burning all the tires on those SUVs did more damage than driving them around? What a crazy (but not in the legal sense!)
He should thank his lucky stars he only torched SUVs. Otherwise if he had killed someone, he'd be looking at the needle.
Hard even for the judge to buy this one?? "The doctoral student at Caltech could not understand due to autism." Good for the judge. This young man is having a hard time understanding the consequences of his grandiose actions. Tough.
"ELF? I thought I was with the FLE!""
Enjoy your stay.
So, his autism "made it difficult for him to understand the intentions of his alleged accomplices" yet he is still able to be a doctoral candidate.
I guess my already low general opinion of PhDs may not be low enough.
Liberals are such cowards. They're not even willing to suffer imprisonment for their beliefs.
a ray of hope....
dang. If you believe in cause, any cause, enough to act in the name of it. At least have the balls to take the heat when you get burnt. Not that i agree with his cause ;)
Yep. And the Left wonders why no one takes them seriously.
This guy should be facing 5 years for each charge. Is this a federal charge? If so, there is no probation.
Put him in general population so he can get to "know" his cell mates.
I thought liberals liked gay marriage? Here's a fringe benefit.
He'll get 5-do-1.
1 year actual time * 75% served (in most prisons) means he'll do 9 months, tops.
Cakewalk.
Minus credit for time already served. Not a very stiff deterrent to terrorism.
Cottrell blamed the arson on accomplices...He won't name names? Why does that sound like I heard it somewhere before?
Here is a going away gift idea for him:
No wait, even better for the LIBs, I don't they will grant a marriage ceremony in the prison. So, the "new" guy will get to play the field, or rather the field will get to play him...
Note: Inmates incarcerated in Federal or State prisons should tie the rope around their ankle for maximum effect.
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