Posted on 08/31/2002 2:49:07 PM PDT by Marianne
"Any person in Western New York should be able to identify James Kopp. It's like asking me to identify a picture of George Washington." Paul J. Cambria Jr., defendant's lead attorney, on police lineups
With the help of a hairstylist and a makeup artist, accused killer James C. Kopp stood Thursday in a series of police lineups in the Dr. Barnett A. Slepian murder case.
Several prosecution witnesses - including people who allegedly saw Kopp in Slepian's neighborhood around the time of the murder - viewed the lineups, which were held at Buffalo Police Headquarters.
At least one witness was able to identify Kopp, and at least one witness was unable to identify him, according to a source close to the case.
But official sources on both sides of the murder case declined to confirm or deny that report.
During each lineup, Kopp stood with five other men, some of whom were police officers, sources said. Some of the other men who stood with Kopp already had beards and mustaches. Others - like Kopp - had fake facial hair applied by a hairstylist and makeup artist.
In the lineups, Kopp and all the men who stood with him wore identical blue one-piece coveralls, similar to those worn by auto mechanics.
"Kopp was cooperative and quiet," said one source. "When he was told to do something, he complied."
Both Kopp's attorney and the district attorney would not discuss what occurred in the lineups.
"The only thing I'm going to say is that his picture has been in the media so many times, any person in Western New York should be able to identify James Kopp," said Kopp's lead attorney, Paul J. Cambria Jr. "It's like asking me to identify a picture of George Washington."
"I can't comment at all on the lineups," said Frank J. Clark, Erie County district attorney.
The lineups were held under tight security. Authorities said they tried to keep the lineups secret because they were concerned that the presence of reporters and photographers might upset witnesses in the murder case.
Kopp, who has engaged in protests in several countries opposing legalized abortion, denies murdering Slepian.
His supporters were upset last month when an Erie County judge directed Kopp to wear a fake beard and mustache during the lineups.
Prosecutors claim that Kopp, 48, had facial hair when he was seen in Slepian's neighborhood around the time of the October 1998 murder and that he has since shaved it off.
"As I've stated before in court, the prosecutors are being allowed to alter (Kopp's) appearance to make him look like the man seen by witnesses," Cambria complained.
Kopp, wearing handcuffs and an orange jail suit, was accompanied to Police Headquarters by Erie County sheriff's deputies at about 4 p.m. Thursday, sources said. During the lineups, which took more than two hours, Kopp's handcuffs were removed.
Clark said he could not release the identities of the witnesses who saw the lineups, or specify how many witnesses looked at them.
Sources in the case said Kopp spent time Friday giving samples of his handwriting to prosecutors, again in compliance with court orders. Prosecutors plan to compare the samples given by Kopp with some paperwork recovered by the FBI during the investigation.
One key piece of handwriting evidence will be the application used to purchase the gun allegedly used in the murder at a pawnshop near Nashville, Tenn. Prosecutors believe Kopp, using a fake name, bought the rifle in July 1997, but Kopp's supporters deny that.
Though court officials hope to hold the murder trial in the early part of next year, Cambria said he now wonders if the case will be ready for trial before next fall.
"(Prosecutors) have given us 40,000 documents to go through, on compact discs, and I understand we're getting 8,000 more," Cambria said. "Before this case goes to trial, we have to examine all this paperwork. Then we have to investigate what is said in the documents. It's going to take a long time."
Cambria said he and other members of his Buffalo law firm are operating on a "shoestring budget" in comparison to the resources of the district attorney's office, Amherst police, State Police, the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department.
As he did in June, Cambria denied a rumor circulated in the pro-choice community and the legal community that he received $1 million to take the case.
Cambria said Kopp's defense is being financed by donations from people all over the United States who oppose abortion and believe Kopp is innocent.
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