Attorneys for the three anti-nuclear weapons activists accused of sneaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex have asked for more time to file motions.
The three defendants—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael R. Walli—have been charged with property destruction, property depredation, and trespassing. They face a Feb. 26 trial in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
Tuesday was the deadline to file motions in the federal case against them. The activists and their attorneys have asked for an extra month.
In a motion filed Tuesday, the attorneys asked for the deadline to be extended to Nov. 9 because they haven’t finished investigating the “circumstances of this case and therefore cannot yet fully advise the defendants regarding the filing of motions in this matter.”
Walli is represented by Christopher Scott Irwin of Knoxville and William P. Quigley of New Orleans, Rice is represented by Francis L. Lloyd Jr. of Knoxville, and Boertje-Obed is representing himself, although he has the assistance of “elbow counsel,” Knoxville attorney Bobby E. Hutson Jr.
During the July 28 security breach at Y-12, the three activists allegedly spray-painted slogans and splashed human blood on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.
They have pleaded not guilty to the federal charges against them. They face potential penalties of up to 16 years in jail and $600,000 in fines.
losingpatience says
There is absolutely NO justification for this total waste of judicial resources in this game that is being played. The acts of the “protesters” was assuredly intentional and the kind of attention they are getting was their goal and should not be provided them. A speedy trial to assure the appropriateness of the criminal charges is all that is needed and an appropriate sentence applied and case closed. This is actually rewarding criminal behavior. It is disgusting.