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Charges dismissed against lead lawyer in SLA case

The Associated Press
Saturday July 21, 2001

LOS ANGELES — A judge dismissed misdemeanor charges against the lead lawyer for former SLA fugitive Sara Jane Olson Friday after both sides agreed that the case against attorney J. Tony Serra would be burdensome to the court, Serra’s lawyers said. 

The dismissal cleared a hurdle in getting the long-delayed Olson case to trial. Serra said if he had been convicted he would have withdrawn from representing Olson. 

Attorney Bruce Margolin, who represented Serra, said the case was dismissed in the interest of justice, and Serra made a donation of $5,000 to a statewide fund for the widows and children of police officers. It was the second time that Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan was called upon to dismiss a charge brought against a lawyer in the Olson case. In early June, he dismissed charges against Olson lawyer Shawn Snider Chapman. 

Both attorneys were accused of wrongly releasing the addresses and phone numbers of two police witnesses that were briefly posted on a Web site. The two former policemen contended they were placed in danger by the public release of information. 

Chapman maintained from the beginning that she was not involved. The city attorney ultimately concluded she was blameless. Serra said the information came from his San Francisco office but was inadvertently released. 

Attorney Eric Shevin, who appeared in court for Serra, said the lawyer “is not insensitive to the concerns of police officers who put their lives at risk every day.” He said it was Serra’s idea to make the donation. 

Maureen Siegel. chief of the city attorney’s criminal division, classified the dismissal of the charges as “more (in) the nature of a civil compromise.” 

“There was essentially an acknowledgment of responsibility through a fairly generous contribution to (the) police memorial foundation,” Siegel said. “All things considered, it’s probably a very appropriate disposition of the case.” 

Olson, 54, is accused of attempting to murder Los Angeles police officers by planting bombs under police cars in 1975 in retaliation for the deaths of six SLA members in a fiery shootout the year before. The bombs did not explode. 

Indicted under her former name, Kathleen Soliah, she remained a fugitive until her 1999 capture in Minnesota where she was living quietly as a housewife and mother. 

Margolin, who had filed a thick stack of pretrial motions on Serra’s behalf, said he had expected Serra to be acquitted. 

“But to have such notoriety was not worth it,” he said. “This is in the best interest of Ms. Olson to get the matter dismissed.” 

Shevin said all parties realized “there was a larger issue here, the Sara Jane Olson trial, and we didn’t want to cloud it with this.” 

The California State Bar, which was investigating both lawyers, also dismissed Chapman’s case. Margolin said he expected the organization to take the same action regarding Serra. 

Olson’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 24. Earlier this week, Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler agreed to convene court in Sacramento for advance testimony from three elderly, ailing witnesses.