MIAMI, April 5 (UPI) -- If you think it's going to be hard to find a jury for the Eric Rudolph trial, you have plenty of company -- distinguished company, too.
Among those who don't think there are many people in Birmingham, Ala., who don't know about the alleged four-time bomber, or care about him, is U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith.
Rudolph -- once one of the highest profile fugitives in U.S. history -- has not only received overwhelming public exposure for the Birmingham abortion clinic bombing Jan. 29, 1998, the subject of his first trial.
Rudolph is also charged with the Olympic Park bombing in July 1996 and two other explosions in Atlanta, all allegedly a product of his right-wing ideology.
Smith has decided on a jury pool so big that it won't fit in any of the rooms in the Hugo Black Federal House in Birmingham.
Smith has moved the first meeting of 500 prospective jurors Wednesday to a ballroom at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel.
The chosen 500 will register, be given instructions about the case and placed under oath before they fill out a questionnaire.
This won't be a quick procedure. Attorneys on both sides will examine the questionnaires and the jurors won't be asked to return until May 16, after the perusal is complete.
Smith has indicated during previous court proceedings that the questionnaires will cover the jury candidates' knowledge of the case, their background and life experiences.
Rudolph is eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted, and the questionnaires are also expected to address that issue.
Copies of the questionnaire won't be released until after a jury is selected.
Rudolph's defense team dropped an attempt to move the trial out of Birmingham when they reached an agreement to have the jury pool drawn from the judicial district's 31 counties.
Rudolph, 38, has waived his right to appear at Wednesday's private session.
Once a jury is selected, opening arguments and testimony are expected to begin in late May or early June. Prosecutors and defense lawyers have indicated in court documents they expect the trial to last four months.
The investigation file turned over to the defense by the prosecution confirms the likelihood of a long trial. It contains 15,000 interviews and thousands of other documents.
Rudolph is being tried for the Birmingham bombing first because federal authorities believe it is the strongest case of the four.
U.S. Attorney Alice Martin and an experienced team of prosecutors will face a defense team led by Clarke, Bill Bowen and Michael Burt.
The defense will try to prove that the evidence used to link Rudolph to the attack was tainted. They will point out testing problems at a Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives lab in Rockville, Md., that is now closed.
Clarke and her team will also attack the accuracy of a model of a bomb reconstructed from fragments found at the Birmingham clinic and in the bodies of the two victims.
Smith had a hearing last week on the admissibility of some of the expert testimony in the case. He has taken the matter under advisement.
ATF agent Richard Strobel, an explosives expert, said tests were conducted for a component used in dynamite on Rudolph's belongings found in a trailer belonging to the defendant in Murphy, N.C.
The tests on a toolbox, pieces of a towel, a wig, a cap and blanket strips all were positive.
Defense lawyers contend that the evidence was mishandled and that investigators did not wear all of the gear that should have been required to protect the evidence.
Rudolph is charged with a bombing at the New Woman All Women clinic that killed off-duty Birmingham police officer Robert Sanderson and critically injured nurse Emily Lyons. She is expected to testify at the trial.
The 1996 bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta killed Alice Hawthorne and wounded 111 others. It also caused the death of cameraman Melih Uzunyol who died of a heart attack while rushing to cover the story.
The FBI eventually had to apologize to Richard Jewell, a security guard who first was hailed as a hero in the Olympic bombing and then was named as a suspect.
Five people were injured in the bombing of the Otherside Lounge, a gay and lesbian club, Feb. 21, 1997. There were no injuries from an explosion he allegedly set at an abortion clinic in Atlanta, Jan. 16, 1997.
After the Birmingham bombing, Rudolph was charged with all four bombings and he the FBI said fled, opening a bizarre chapter of his story.
Despite an offer of a $1 million reward by the FBI, Rudolph remained at large in the Appalachian wilderness in North Carolina for five years.
Millions were spent on one of the most extensive manhunts in history. Many law enforcement officials believe he had help from sympathizers and some of them were vocal.
Two country music songs were written about him and a popular T-shirt carried the phrase: "Run Rudolph Run."
Rudolph was arrested in Murphy, N.C., May 31, 2003, by a local policeman as the fugitive was scavenging for food in a dumpster behind a grocery store.
The healthy, clean-shaven Rudolph was unarmed and offered no resistance -- just another fact that has befuddled law enforcement for so many years.
--
(Please send comments to [email protected].)
