SUDDEN TWIST HINTED IN KOPP TRIAL

James C. Kopp already has removed the mystery of who shot Dr. Barnett A. Slepian. Will he now short-circuit his murder trial by agreeing to a stipulated set of facts and asking the judge, not a jury, to hear the case?

Legal sources close to the case say that such an announcement could come today when Kopp returns to the courtroom of Erie County Judge Michael L. D'Amico.

But neither Kopp's attorney, Bruce A. Barket, nor Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark, citing a gag order in the case, would comment on what was expected to happen.

However, they both said the situation would be clearer after today's court session. It was called at their request before jury questioning is scheduled to begin Wednesday.

The speculation began Friday when Barket appeared in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on behalf of Loretta C. Marra. She and her husband, Dennis J. Malvasi, are accused of helping Kopp avoid authorities after he fled to Europe in the aftermath of the October 1998 sniper slaying of Slepian, an abortion provider, in his Amherst home.

The New York Post quoted Barket as telling the judge that there was an "agreement in principle resolving Mr. Kopp's case in the state court."

Barket, who arrived in Buffalo on Monday from his Long Island office, said that this was not what he said in Brooklyn. He was talking about an agreement resolving Marra's case and his availability to return to Brooklyn because of the Kopp trial, he said.

Asked whether he and Clark had agreed, as legal sources said, that Kopp would forgo the jury trial for what is known as a "stipulated bench trial" before D'Amico, Barket replied: "Not that I am aware of."

Asked whether that is an alternative in the case, Clark said: "It certainly is, but I'm not going to confirm that is how we are going to proceed."

Barket did say that he had made an offer months ago to the district attorney to go to trial with a stipulated set of facts but that prosecutors did not accept it.

Kopp has not been engaging in a traditional defense. In November, with Barket present, Kopp told The Buffalo News that he had indeed shot Slepian, but only to stop him from performing abortions, not to kill him.

Deputy District Attorney Joseph J. Marusak, who already had charged Kopp with intentional murder, then went back to a grand jury and got an additional charge of causing his death by depraved indifference.

Regardless of what happens today in court, Clark said, his office will not offer a plea to a reduced charge or a sentence of anything less than the maximum 25 years to life in prison that both charges carry.

Kopp also could face a sentence of life imprisonment in U.S. District Court, where he is charged with murder under an abortion clinic access law.

The normal schedule in the case calls for jury questioning to begin Wednesday, with testimony to start Monday.

COMPUTER EVIDENCE SYSTEM SET FOR USE IN KOPP TRIAL LINK
The Buffalo News
Matt Gryta
March 9, 2003
     The jurors at James C. Kopp's murder trial in the shooting of an Amherst physician will be using 21st century technology.
     Aside from drawing national attention because of the nature of the crime, the trial over the fatal shooting of Dr. Barnett A. Slepian will mark the first time the state court system's computerized Digital Evidence Presentation System will be booted up for trial in the Buffalo area.
     With one of the $50,000 systems being installed in each of the state's 12 court districts, computer technicians experimenting with the system in a civil courtroom in Erie County Hall have temporarily moved most of the gear to the Kopp courtroom a floor below.
     Erie County Judge Michael L. D'Amico, the trial judge, convinced local court administrators - including top official Harold J. Brand Jr. - that the gravity and complexity of the Kopp case make it the perfect setting for the system's maiden voyage here, court officials said.
     Mary Lou Enser, the state court clerk working with Joseph DeAntonis, head of the judicial district's computer operations, said the system is designed to "streamline evidence presentation, making litigation more efficient."
     It will ultimately be available for use in any civil or criminal proceeding as an integral "part of the courtroom of the future," Enser said.
     DeAntonis said the system is designed to serve as the technological control center of the courtroom, displaying documents and physical and computer-based evidence as well as 3-D evidence, X-rays and negatives used in court proceedings.
     For the Kopp trial, five monitors have been installed, including a 42-inch plasma screen and a 70-inch projection screen that jurors will view during the trial. The defense, prosecution and judge also have monitors.
     Enser said the system, which also has an audio feature, "allows for clear and simultaneous review of evidence to the entire courtroom."
     DeAntonis said that when the Buffalo system is fully operational, it will include separate 7-inch monitors for every two jurors as well as "real time" court reporting that will allow judges to observe testimony on their bench monitors as it is being recorded by court stenographers.
     That "real time" feature won't be available for the Kopp trial, he said.

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