Free Republic

Paul J. Cambria Jr, asked a federal judge today for permission to withdraw as James C. Kopp's defense attorney. Without giving a reason, Cambria asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott if he could drop out of the sniper murder case. Kopp then said he wanted Bruce A. Barket, a Long Island pro-life attorney, to represent him. "What is your reason, if you would like to state it?" Scott asked Kopp. "I'd rather not state it, if that's all right," Kopp answered. Scott said he will appoint an independent counsel to explain to Kopp any potential conflicts. Barket represents Loretta...

Buffalo lawyer Paul J. Cambria Jr. is expected to withdraw, possibly within the next few days, as the lead defense attorney in the James C. Kopp murder case. According to sources in the legal community, sharp differences of opinion have developed in recent weeks between Cambria and some of Kopp's close friends and advisers over the approach that should be used to defend the accused killer of Dr. Barnett Slepian. "Paul Cambria wants to defend the case by attacking the evidence, by making the (prosecution) prove its case in court," one source close to the situation told The Buffalo News....

A federal judge in Buffalo reluctantly agreed late Thursday to dismiss felony charges against a man and woman from Brooklyn who admit that they helped James C. Kopp avoid capture after the 1998 murder of Dr. Barnett A. Slepian. The action taken by District Judge Richard J. Arcara clears the way for Kopp supporters Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi to go to New York City and take a plea deal comparable to one that Arcara criticized and refused to approve in August. Arcara agreed Thursday to a request from prosecutors to dismiss charges of obstructing justice and aiding a fugitive,...

Government prosecutors took an unusual series of legal actions late Monday, seeking to prevent the case of two pro-life supporters of James C. Kopp from going to trial before a federal judge in Buffalo. In Buffalo, they filed court papers to drop the charges they filed last year against Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi of Brooklyn, who are accused of helping Kopp avoid capture by the FBI after the sniper murder of an Amherst physician. In New York City, they filed a new, greatly reduced criminal charge against Marra and Malvasi. Essentially, prosecutors asked to have the case moved from...

BUFFALO - Loretta Marra's premonitions that Federal District Court Judge Richard Arcara would reject a plea agreement forged over the summer between federal prosecutors and lawyers representing her and her husband, Dennis Malvasi were realized in a Buffalo courtroom August 21 when Arcara killed the deal. A testy Judge Arcara accused both the government's attorneys and the defendants' attorneys of manipulating the legal system, and accused Marra and Malvasi of being "accessories" to the murder of Buffalo abortionist Barnett Slepian. Marra and Malvasi, who have already served 17 months in jail for helping James Kopp return to the United States...