11-11-2004, 12:09 PM
Trial opens for grad student charged in SoCal SUV vandalism spree
LOS ANGELES - A graduate student was present during an arson spree of sport utility vehicles last year but did not personally carry out the attacks, defense lawyers told jurors Tuesday.
The defense said during its opening statements in federal court that William Jensen Cottrell, 24, had thought the stunt was to graffiti the vehicles and was "shocked" when two friends began hurling Molotov cocktails instead.
"This is not what he expected," attorney Michael Mayock argued.
Cottrell, a physics student at the California Institute of Technology, faces nine counts of arson, conspiracy to commit arson and using a destructive device stemming from the attacks at San Gabriel Valley dealerships and homes. He could received 35 years to life in prison if convicted.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly Reid-O'Connell said that Cottrell knew of plans to firebomb the vehicles. Prosecutors said jurors would hear testimony from a friend who claims Cottrell said he helped fill detergent bottles with gasoline.
The defense sought to explain Cottrell's involvement with claims that he suffered from a type of autism known as Asperger's syndrome. Lawyers said the condition made it difficult for him to understand the intentions of his alleged accomplices and an "easy dupe."
Federal prosecutors last month identified Tyler Johnson and Michie Oe as "fugitive coconspirators" in the case. Johnson graduated from Caltech in June 2003 with a bachelor's degree in physics, a campus spokeswoman said.
Johnson and Oe have not been charged and authorities believe they fled the United States, Mrozek said.
U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner on Tuesday said he would allow testimony about Asperger's syndrome, but only as to whether Cottrell could have foreseen the alleged crimes were going to take place.
The judge denied the defense's motion to bar references to terrorism during the trial.
"Our stance is it is part of the case and it should be allowed," Mrozek said.
The SUV attacks took place Aug. 22, 2003, at car dealerships in West Covina, Duarte and Arcadia and on four privately owned vehicles in Monrovia. The four cities are just east of Pasadena, where Caltech is located and where Cottrell lived.
About 125 vehicles were damaged or destroyed, causing an estimated $2.3 million damage. The hardest hit was a West Covina dealership, where 72 vehicles and a parts warehouse were torched.
The vandals spray-painted on some vehicles "polluter", "smog machine," "SUVterrorism" and "ELF," an acronym for the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group that has claimed responsibility for several acts of arson and vandalism around the United States.
Authorities said they traced a series of e-mails boasting of the attacks to Cottrell. The sender of the e-mails allegedly claimed to be affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front.
LOS ANGELES - A graduate student was present during an arson spree of sport utility vehicles last year but did not personally carry out the attacks, defense lawyers told jurors Tuesday.
The defense said during its opening statements in federal court that William Jensen Cottrell, 24, had thought the stunt was to graffiti the vehicles and was "shocked" when two friends began hurling Molotov cocktails instead.
"This is not what he expected," attorney Michael Mayock argued.
Cottrell, a physics student at the California Institute of Technology, faces nine counts of arson, conspiracy to commit arson and using a destructive device stemming from the attacks at San Gabriel Valley dealerships and homes. He could received 35 years to life in prison if convicted.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly Reid-O'Connell said that Cottrell knew of plans to firebomb the vehicles. Prosecutors said jurors would hear testimony from a friend who claims Cottrell said he helped fill detergent bottles with gasoline.
The defense sought to explain Cottrell's involvement with claims that he suffered from a type of autism known as Asperger's syndrome. Lawyers said the condition made it difficult for him to understand the intentions of his alleged accomplices and an "easy dupe."
Federal prosecutors last month identified Tyler Johnson and Michie Oe as "fugitive coconspirators" in the case. Johnson graduated from Caltech in June 2003 with a bachelor's degree in physics, a campus spokeswoman said.
Johnson and Oe have not been charged and authorities believe they fled the United States, Mrozek said.
U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner on Tuesday said he would allow testimony about Asperger's syndrome, but only as to whether Cottrell could have foreseen the alleged crimes were going to take place.
The judge denied the defense's motion to bar references to terrorism during the trial.
"Our stance is it is part of the case and it should be allowed," Mrozek said.
The SUV attacks took place Aug. 22, 2003, at car dealerships in West Covina, Duarte and Arcadia and on four privately owned vehicles in Monrovia. The four cities are just east of Pasadena, where Caltech is located and where Cottrell lived.
About 125 vehicles were damaged or destroyed, causing an estimated $2.3 million damage. The hardest hit was a West Covina dealership, where 72 vehicles and a parts warehouse were torched.
The vandals spray-painted on some vehicles "polluter", "smog machine," "SUVterrorism" and "ELF," an acronym for the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group that has claimed responsibility for several acts of arson and vandalism around the United States.
Authorities said they traced a series of e-mails boasting of the attacks to Cottrell. The sender of the e-mails allegedly claimed to be affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front.
