From the Pasadena Star-News in California:LOS ANGELES - A Caltech graduate student serving prison time for his participation in the firebombing of more than 100 vehicles in the San Gabriel Valley in 2003 will not be re-tried on arson charges, federal prosecutors said Nov. 9.
William "Billy" Cottrell's (pictured) 2004 convictions on seven counts of arson were overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeal for the 9th Circuit in Pasadena in September.
Prosecutors had the option of re-trying Cottrell on the arson charges but opted not to, they said Nov. 9.
Cottrell remains convicted of a conspiracy charge and could be released or face additional prison time when he is re-sentenced next Monday.
"It's very good for Billy that the trial is over," said Marvin Rudnick, Cottrell's attorney. "The uncertainty now is what the judge is going to do for the sentencing."
Cottrell was sentenced to more than eight years in prison in 2004 for his role in a fire-bombing spree that caused millions of dollars in damages to car dealerships in Duarte, Arcadia and West Covina.
More than 130 SUV's were spray-painted or torched the night of Aug. 22, 2003. Cottrell and two other people tagged the vehicles with words such as "polluter," "gas guzzler," "SUV=Terrorism," and "ELF," an acronym for the militant environmentalist group Earth Liberation Front.
U.S. Central District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner could decide Monday to make Cottrell serve the rest of his 100-month sentence for the conspiracy count or release him outright, Rudnick said.Cottrell was serving separate 100-month sentences concurrently for the arson counts before they were vacated by the Ninth Circuit in September.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherilyn Garnett said her office wants Cottrell to serve the full 100 months for the conspiracy count.
"At the time of his sentencing the government was of the position and is still of the position that it was a fair sentence," Garnett said.
There was no need to re-try Cottrell on the arson charges because he remains convicted of conspiracy and will face the same maximum sentence, she said.
Cottrell's attorneys are also seeking a reduction in the $3.5 million in restitution he was ordered to pay.
The Ninth Circuit overturned Cottrell's arson convictions in September because they found that testimony about Cottrell's Asperger's syndrome should have been allowed at trial.
"It was relevant and and could have assisted the jury's determination of whether Cottrell had the specific intent required for aiding and abetting (arson)," the court's ruling said.
Asperger's syndrome is a high-functioning form of autism with symptoms that often include social dysfunction as well as above-average intelligence. Cottrell's attorneys argue that his Asperger's prevented him from understanding his involvement in the attacks.
Police linked Cottrell to the crimes after he sent taunting e-mails to a newspaper, taking credit for the attacks. He also implicated two other people - Michie Oe and Tyler Johnson, who both remain at large and may have fled the country, according to authorities.
Cottrell's attorneys and supporters have said that he's been harassed in prison because he's been labeled an "eco-terrorist."
"Everybody thinks he's Al-Qaeda," Rudnick said. "But that's what happens in prison. The hyperbole rules."
A physicist at Caltech before he was arrested, Cottrell has been described as a genius and has spent his time in prison teaching physics, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese to other prisoners, his attorneys said.
Cottrell's Asperger's syndrome could be considered by Judge Klausner as a mitigating factor during re-sentencing next week, Rudnick said.
"I think he can, but I don't know whether he will," Rudnick said.
