Kopp told The News, in the presence of his attorney, that he shot Slepian to prevent him from performing more abortions but did not intend to kill him, as is alleged in the charge of intentional murder. Posted on 12/02/2002 4:17:44 PM PST by Marianne
A week after James C. Kopp's confession in The Buffalo News that he fatally shot Dr. Barnett A. Slepian, the judge in his murder trial Tuesday issued a gag order on all attorneys, investigators and Kopp himself.
Erie County Judge Michael L. D'Amico issued the order at the request of the district attorney's office, but Kopp's attorney, Bruce A. Barket, said he agreed with its terms.
"The only thing we can talk about is what happens in open court," Deputy District Attorney Joseph J. Marusak said after Tuesday's court session.
Marusak submitted a lengthy legal memorandum to the court outlining the massive publicity the case has received since Slepian's October 1998 murder, and the concerns it might be difficult to select an impartial jury. Last week's News story with Kopp's confession, Marusak said, was in the package given to the judge.
Tuesday's order comes after both sides apparently benefited from Kopp's confession.
Kopp told The News, in the presence of his attorney, that he shot Slepian to prevent him from performing more abortions but did not intend to kill him, as is alleged in the charge of intentional murder.
District Attorney Frank J. Clark, after the publication of Kopp's admission, said he intends to seek an additional murder charge against Kopp on the grounds that he showed a grave indifference to human life.
Kopp, dressed Tuesday in khakis and a sport coat several sizes too big for his slight frame, complained through Barket that he has been locked in his cell 23 hours a day at the Erie County Holding Center since The News story and has had all his telephone calls monitored. "We would like things put back to where they were a week ago Tuesday (before the News story ran)," Barket asked the judge.
"That's what we're going to do," D'Amico ruled. He gave no indication that he was angered by Kopp's unusual jailhouse confession, but did tell Kopp that he would no longer be speaking to the media.
Kopp told The News, in the presence of his attorney, that he shot Slepian to prevent him from performing more abortions but did not intend to kill him, as is alleged in the charge of intentional murder. District Attorney Frank J. Clark, after the publication of Kopp's admission, said he intends to seek an additional murder charge against Kopp on the grounds that he showed a grave indifference to human life. "AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER'
Loretta Marra, the Brooklyn woman accused of helping James Kopp while he was on the run, lost her temper in court last week.
As we told you before, Marra and husband Dennis Malvasi were denied bail. What we didn't know at the time is that Marra also cursed out a federal prosecutor.
Sources who were in the Brooklyn courtroom and heard Marra's outburst said it was directed at Buffalo prosecutor Kathleen Mehltretter.
"You lying b----," Marra, a pro-life activist who knows Kopp and has protested with him in the past, reportedly said.
It seems Marra became upset when Mehltretter said the couple could still be considered a flight risk. The judge ordered the couple held without bail.
Marra, 32, and Malvasi, 52, have spent the past 20 months in jail, charged with sending money to Kopp while he was trying to avoid arrest. The couple has two children.
The Daily News, in its account of the bail hearing, said Marra "appeared to be riding an emotional roller coaster during the hearing, appearing agitated at times and sobbing when her lawyer mentioned her two children."
The News also reported that, when the judge ordered Marra and Malvasi held without bail and the couple was led from the courtroom, supporters could be heard calling the prosecutors "Nazis."
JUDGE NIXES KOPP'S LAWYER FOR FEDERAL TRIAL
The Buffalo News LINK
By DAN HERBECK, News Staff Reporter</br November 28, 2002
Admitted sniper James C. Kopp will probably not have the attorney of his choice when he goes on trial in federal court in connection with the slaying of Dr. Barnett A. Slepian.
A federal judge ruled late Wednesday that Long Island defense lawyer Bruce A. Barket cannot represent Kopp on federal charges because Barket already represents Loretta C. Marra, a friend and fellow abortion protester of Kopp's.
Too many conflicts of interest could arise if Barket is allowed to represent both Marra and Kopp, U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott ruled.
"Kopp's right to counsel of choice in this case is outweighed by the demonstration of serious actual and potential conflicts in this matter," Scott wrote. "The institutional interest of the courts is to protect the ethical integrity of the courts and the legal profession, as well as to ensure that Kopp receives a fair trial."
Kopp could appeal Scott's ruling. It was not known late Wednesday if he plans to do so.
Scott also suggested that Barket might be called as a prosecution witness in Kopp's federal trial, because Barket sat by Kopp's side during a recent jailhouse interview in which Kopp confessed to the shooting to two reporters from The Buffalo News.
"The possibility that Barket may now be a witness in this matter, of course, would present an additional potential conflict to Barket's representation of Kopp," Scott wrote in an 18-page decision.
In two recent court appearances, Kopp told Scott that he fully understood the possible conflicts and still wanted Barket - who shares Kopp's strong anti-abortion views - to represent him in federal court.
"There are philosophical sympathies between me and Mr. Barket," Kopp said during an appearance Nov. 12. "I'd be hard-pressed to find another lawyer . . . to handle the case the way I want."
On that day, Kopp went on to say he feels so strongly about the issue that he may "go pro se" - a legal term for acting as his own lawyer - if Barket were prohibited from entering the federal case.
For more than a year, Barket has represented Marra on federal charges that she helped Kopp to avoid arrest after the October 1998 sniper slaying of Slepian in his Amherst home.
Marra has also told Scott that she is not concerned about the potential conflicts.
Citing an example of one potential conflict of interest, Scott said Barket might have mixed feelings about vigorously cross-examining Marra if she were called as a prosecution witness in Kopp's federal case.
"Under the circumstances, given the . . . complexity of this case, the court finds that neither Kopp nor Marra have made, or can make, a knowing and reasonable waiver of their right to conflict-free counsel," Scott wrote.
Barket, who could not be reached to comment late Wednesday, has already been approved to represent Kopp in his upcoming murder trial in Erie County Court. Buffalo attorney John V. Elmore entered the murder case as Barket's co-counsel this week. Scott's ruling in federal court is not expected to have any effect on the murder case.
Elmore also could not be reached to comment.
In federal court, Kopp faces charges of violating the U.S. Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Kopp is accused of using a firearm to kill Slepian and prevent women from exercising their right to abortion.
In a jailhouse interview published Nov. 20, Kopp admitted to The News that he shot and killed Slepian, but he said he fired only with the intention of injuring the doctor. Kopp said he a acted in defense of unborn children who faced imminent danger of being aborted.
Currently, Paul J. Cambria Jr. remains Kopp's attorney of record at federal court. But Cambria, who represented Kopp for more than a year before Barket's recent entry into the case, has stated emphatically that he does not want to represent Kopp.
Cambria has never specified his reasons for wanting to leave the case, but he told reporters earlier this year that he would not allow Kopp's trial to become a forum for the debate on abortion.
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