| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Lord Calvert" |
| Date: |
22 Aug 2003 08:29:38 AM |
| Object: |
People who aided terrorist set free in NYC |
Once again the administration shows that while Muslim terrorism requires the
Constitution be ignored, Christian terrorists will be helped as much as
possible. It would be nice to have some consistency.
This also sets a very large precedent for the hundreds of people who helped the
Olympic Park Bomber. Now they know that if they aid Christian terrorists they
will not be prosecuted, even if people die.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030822/1040364.asp
================================
2 who aided Kopp freed after getting time served
By DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporter
8/22/2003
Loretta Marra, left, and Dennis Malvasi could have been sentenced to five years
in prison for assisting convicted killer James Kopp.
In New York City on Thursday, Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi enjoyed a joyous
reunion with their two young sons outside the federal courthouse after being
released from jail.
In Amherst, a frustrated Lynne Slepian tried to explain to her sons why a judge
would not give the maximum sentence to two people who had helped the killer of
their father - Dr. Barnett A. Slepian - avoid capture.
After a two-day hearing, U.S. District Judge Carol B. Amon decided to release
Marra, 39, and Malvasi, 53, who admitted they sent cash and information to
James C. Kopp while he was an international fugitive after the 1998 sniper
attack.
Amon could have sentenced the two Brooklyn anti-abortion activists to up to
five years but instead sentenced them to time served after their arrests almost
two years and five months ago.
The judge said she based her decision solely on federal sentencing guidelines
and the circumstances of the case.
"This decision was a credit to our court system, and to the judge," said
Marra's attorney, Bruce A. Barket.
Quite a different view was taken by Slepian, who gave a brief statement to The
Buffalo News.
"They got off easy," said Slepian, the physician's widow. "They should have
been given the maximum penalty. It was a miscarriage of justice to show
leniency."
Similar comments came from family friend and attorney Glenn E. Murray, and from
Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation.
Saporta said, "We hope this decision doesn't send the wrong message to the
network of people who provide support and assistance to those who take part in
violence against providers and clinics."
Saporta said she believes there are "still many unanswered questions" about
whether Marra or Malvasi played any role in the 1998 Slepian murder, or in
sniper attacks on other doctors in Canada and in the Rochester area.
Marra and Malvasi admitted conspiring to help Kopp while he was avoiding
capture, but they have never admitted participating in the crime. Prosecutors
have never alleged that they had foreknowledge of the crime.
Malvasi's attorney vehemently denies an Amherst woman's allegation that she saw
Malvasi in the Slepian neighborhood about 10 days after the murder.
"I can see where some people in Buffalo would see this as a lenient sentence,"
said Thomas J. Eoannou, Malvasi's Buffalo attorney. "The judge even said that
she thought the punishment was too lenient, but she felt bound by sentencing
guidelines.
"The FBI had hundreds of hours of tapes of Loretta and Dennis, talking in their
home. They conducted a huge investigation. If they had ever come up with
information tying them to the murder, they would have charged them with that."
The couple were arrested in New York City on March 29, 2001, shortly after Kopp
was captured in Dinan, France. Police said Marra and Malvasi had wired money to
Kopp - who was using the alias of John O'Brian - at a Dinan post office.
Buffalo FBI agents said Marra also used e-mail accounts to send Kopp messages,
including one e-mail that appeared to be a discussion of the ethics of shooting
abortion providers.
Law enforcement officials said a car owned by Marra was spotted near Vancouver
around the time an abortion doctor was shot there in November 1994.
At their sentencings in New York City, Marra and Malvasi expressed no remorse
about their assistance of Kopp. Marra read 45-page statement, in which she took
credit for convincing Kopp to admit to killing Slepian in a November 2002
interview with The News.
Eoannou said, "She didn't feel it was right for pro-life people to raise money
for Kopp's defense if they weren't being told what really happened."
"That's bunk," said Murray. "I think Kopp confessed because he had been caught
and he knew he was going to be convicted anyway."
The s couple are nationally known in the radical element of the anti-abortion
movement. Both are described as "Real American Heroes" on the Army of God's
anti-abortion Web site.
For years, Marra and Kopp teamed up to blockade women's clinics, often using
chains and locks to link their bodies together and make it difficult for police
to move them.
Malvasi, a former U.S. Marine, spent time in prison for bombing clinics in the
New York City area in the 1980s. Both Marra and Malvasi, who are married, have
attended the White Rose Banquet, an annual event in Maryland that honors people
who have taken violent action against abortion providers.
Kopp, 48, is serving 25 years to life in state prison for the Slepian
assassination. He still faces trial before U.S. District Judge Richard J.
Arcara for alleged violations of a federal law providing access to legal
abortions.
The case of Marra and Malvasi has caused friction between Arcara, Western New
York's chief federal judge, and federal prosecutors.
In August 2002, Arcara refused to approve a plea deal that sought 33-month
prison terms for the pair. Arcara said he believed the proposed sentence was
insufficient punishment for helping an assassin.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Battle's office then dropped the charges filed in
Buffalo against the pair, and filed new charges in New York City, prompting
Arcara to accuse the prosecutors of "blatant . . . judge shopping."
Marra and Malvasi then took plea deals before Amon last April, admitting to
felony conspiracy charges. Both have been in jail since their 2001 arrests.
Battle, Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark and FBI officials have all
said they could file new charges against Marra, Malvasi or any other person if
new information ever links them to the Slepian murder.
Battle and his first assistant, Kathleen M. Mehltretter, declined to comment
Thursday.
========================================
Rich Goranson, Amherst, NY, USA (aa#MCMXCIX, a-vet#1)
EAC Ill-Legal Dept. "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here"
"My country, right or wrong; to be defended when right and righted when wrong."
- Thomas Jefferson
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: People who aided terrorist set free in NYC |
23 Aug 2003 05:52:33 PM |
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On 22 Aug 2003 13:29:38 GMT, forlornh@aol.commode (Lord Calvert)
posted in alt.atheism:
"I can see where some people in Buffalo would see this as a lenient sentence,"
said Thomas J. Eoannou, Malvasi's Buffalo attorney. "The judge even said that
she thought the punishment was too lenient, but she felt bound by sentencing
guidelines.
Sentencing guidelines call for 2-1/2 years for accessory to first
degree homicide? Then the sentencing guidelines need MAJOR revision.
(And whoever thought that one up needs MAJOR removal of the vacuum in
his head.)
In August 2002, Arcara refused to approve a plea deal that sought 33-month
prison terms for the pair. Arcara said he believed the proposed sentence was
insufficient punishment for helping an assassin.
At least SOMEONE had his head screwed on straight.
--
"Damn. Looks like all of usenet agrees that you don't have the logical
faculties to prove the statement 'dogshit is not peanut butter' if we
gave you a jar of each and a box of crackers" - John Hattan to Tic
(random sig, produced by SigChanger)
rukbat at optonline dot net
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| User: "Lord Calvert" |
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| Title: Re: People who aided terrorist set free in NYC |
23 Aug 2003 05:59:21 PM |
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"I can see where some people in Buffalo would see this as a lenient
sentence,"
said Thomas J. Eoannou, Malvasi's Buffalo attorney. "The judge even said
that
she thought the punishment was too lenient, but she felt bound by sentencing
guidelines.
Sentencing guidelines call for 2-1/2 years for accessory to first
degree homicide? Then the sentencing guidelines need MAJOR revision.
(And whoever thought that one up needs MAJOR removal of the vacuum in
his head.)
They should have been prosecuted under Article 810 of the Patriot Act. Giving
financial support to terrorists carries a maximum of 15 years which is
increased to a life sentence if there was a death.
Of course, this means that Operation Rescue would have to be officially
declared a terrorist organization, something this administration will never do,
no matter how many people they brutally murder.
Rich Goranson, Amherst, NY, USA (aa#MCMXCIX, a-vet#1)
EAC Ill-Legal Dept. "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here"
"My country, right or wrong; to be defended when right and righted when wrong."
- Thomas Jefferson
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| User: "Dave" |
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| Title: Re: People who aided terrorist set free in NYC |
23 Aug 2003 10:12:01 PM |
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forlornh@aol.commode (Lord Calvert) wrote in message news:<20030822092938.28531.00000508@mb-m18.aol.com>...
Once again the administration shows that while Muslim terrorism
requires the Constitution be ignored, Christian terrorists will
be helped as much as possible. It would be nice to have some consistency.
We're just lucky they weren't pardoned immediately.
---
With the reserves now fighting overseas where will our future Dubya's hide?
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