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Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Rudolph pleads guilty to Atlanta bombings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a proceeding that took more than an hour, Eric Robert Rudolph today pleaded guilty to setting off three bombs in Atlanta, including one at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Olympics.
“Because I believe that abortion is murder, I also believe that force is justified … in an attempt to stop it,” he said in a statement handed out by his lawyers.
The statement marked the first time he had ever offered a reason for the attacks.
“The purpose of the attack on July 27th (1996) was to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand,” Rudolph said in the statement, which quoted the Bible throughout.
“I am not anarchist. I have nothing against government or law enforcement in general. It is solely for the reason that this govt has legalized the murder of children that I have no allegiance to nor do I recognize the legitimacy of this particular government in Washington.”
Rudolph entered the courtroom on the 23rd floor of the Russell Federal Building in Atlanta wearing a gray suit and blue dress shirt open at the collar. He looked around the room, nodding and greeting members of his defense team, and appeared at ease as he rocked occasionally in his chair, flanked by his three court-appointed public defenders.
As in earlier court appearances during his two years in custody, Rudolph was unfailingly polite in his responses to U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell, who questioned Rudolph about whether he understood the agreement and was pleased with his lawyers.
“More than satisfied,” Rudolph replied as Pannell went through a long list of questions about his representation.
After prosecutors spent more than 30 minutes outlining their evidence in the bombings, Judge Pannell asked Rudolph a series of questions, including if he agreed the government could prove the allegations.
Before Rudolph could speak, one of his lawyers, federal defender Paul Kish, said Rudolph agreed a jury would find him guilty of the crimes, but that Rudolph was not agreeing to each piece of evidence being presented by the prosecution.
“We are not quarrelling that they can prove those things,” Kish said.
Pannell then asked Rudolph “Are you guilty of these charges?”
“I am,” said Rudolph.
Rudolph faces four consecutive life sentences plus 120 years for the charges he pleaded guilty to today.
Pannell said he would defer setting a sentencing date for Rudolph on the charges Rudolph pleaded guilty to in his courtroom until a pre-sentencing report is completed and all of the more than 120 victims have a chance to submit written statements or notify him that they would like to speak at Rudolph’s sentencing.
“I will notify the attorneys of the sentencing date,” Pannell said. “I don’t want to overlook or short-change any of the victims.”
Earlier today, U.S. Judge Lynnwood Smith in Birmingham, Ala., where Rudolph pleaded guilty to a bombing at an Alabama women’s clinic, set a sentencing date for July 18.
In a statement released after the plea, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said, “Eric Rudolph is guilty today. There will be no further delays in obtaining justice for the public and the many victims of his terrorist acts. Eric Rudolph is guilty forever more.”
Outside the Russell Federal Building following the hearing, Olympic Park bombing victim Fallon Stubbs, whose mother Alice Hawthorne died at the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, said she left the session pitying Rudolph.
“I really pity him,” she said. “I only wish he could have been brought up in the home that we were. He’s a product of the home he grew up in.”
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Rudolph arrives in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Suspected Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph has arrived at the federal courthouse in Atlanta.
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Rudolph pleads guilty to clinic bombing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Birmingham — Wearing an orange prison jump suit, his uncuffed hands behind his back and his lawyers by his side, Eric Rudolph looked straight at federal Judge Lynwood Smith and pleaded guilty this morning to the bombing at a Birmingham women’s clinic that killed an off-duty police officer and critically injured a nurse.
Asked by the judge whether he believed the government had enough evidence to prove his guilt, Rudolph replied, “Just barely, your honor.”
After prosecutors read a summary of the evidence in U.S. District Court, Smith told Rudolph that he understood he might dispute some of the prosecution’s claims.
“But let me just cut to the chase: Did you plant the bomb that exploded at the New Woman All Women clinic?”
“I did, your honor,” Rudolph said.
The bomb was placed in a flower pot and authorities believe it was detonated by remote control.
Smith asked Rudolph whether he detonated the bomb.
“I certainly did, your honor.”
“Are you in fact guilty?” Smith asked.
“I am,” replied Rudolph, 38.
Asked whether he understood that he was pleading guilty to the 1998 bombing in exchange for a life sentence in federal prison, Rudolph nodded and replied: “Correct.”
He could have faced the death penalty if the case had gone to trial and he was convicted.
As the judge reviewed the charges in the federal indictment, Rudolph stood at a podium, occasionally shuffling through papers.
At no point did Rudolph appear to look behind him at the front row of spectators, which included wounded nurse Emily Lyons and the widow of the police officer.
“Are you satisfied with your attorneys?” Smith asked.
“Yes. I am your honor. They’re very, very good. Superlative attorneys,” said Rudolph, who eluded authorities for 5 1/2 years after the Birmingham blast by hiding in the mountains of western North Carolina.
The 50-minute proceeding ended with Smith pronouncing, “The defendant is now adjudged guilty.”
He set sentencing for July 18. Rudolph is expected to receive four consecutive life terms.
Outside the courthouse, Lyons said she was “nauseated” that Rudolph’s plea allows him to dodge the death penalty.
“We’ve always felt the death penalty is what he deserved. The punishment should fit the crime,” Lyons said. “It’s just a sickening feeling.”
Rudolph’s motorcade left for Atlanta at 10:57 a.m., Eastern Time. He will appear in U.S. District Court and is expected to plead guilty to the 1996 bombing at Centennial Olympic Park that killed one woman and to two other Atlanta bombings — at a gay nightclub in Midtown and at another women’s clinic in Sandy Springs.
Authorities plan to hold Rudolph at the county jail in Birmingham while he awaits sentencing.
Sometime after the pleas in Birmingham and Atlanta, defense attorney Bill Bowen said, Rudolph intends to release a written statement explaining the bombings, which also wounded more than 120.
Under the plea deal, Fulton County prosecutors agreed not to pursue future state charges in Georgia against Rudolph at the request of federal authorities, said Erik Friedly, a spokesman for District Attorney Paul Howard. In Alabama, Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber said he wouldn’t comment on the possibility of any state charges there until after sentencing.
—The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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Rudolph arrives at Birmingham courthouse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eric Rudolph arrived early Wednesday morning at the federal court building in downtown Birmingham for the first of two hearings during which he is expected to plead guilty to four bombings.
The 38-year-old Rudolph arrived in a car surrounded buy 10 marked and unmarked police vehicles, including motorcycles. The car with Rudolph inside pulled directly into the basement of the building, out of sight of spectators outside the court building.
Rudolph is set to plead guilty during Wednesday’s hearings in Birmingham and Atlanta, in four bombings. During the hearings he will likely will do only the minimum required by law to convince a judge of his guilt: Answering “yes” when asked if he agrees with evidence laid out by prosecutors.
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