Rudolph waives hearing, will be jailed until trial

The Birmingham News/June 17, 2003
By Val Walton

Eric Robert Rudolph agreed Monday to stay in jail until he is tried on charges he bombed a Southside abortion clinic in 1998.

Defense attorneys said in a statement that after careful consideration it is clear Rudolph will not get nor can he make bond. His hearing was set for today.

In a court filing, Rudolph acknowledged that he waived his right to a detention hearing and will remain in the custody of U.S. marshals until his trial. "Therefore, we will waive the detention hearing and will concentrate our efforts on those battles in the near future that we have every intention of winning," his attorneys' statement said.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge T. Michael Putnam had scheduled a hearing after prosecutors contended that Rudolph should remain without bond because he is a danger to the community, a flight risk and is charged with a violent crime. Court officials, prosecutors and defense attorneys attended a Monday morning session at the Jefferson County Jail, where Rudolph is being held.

Rudolph was brought to Birmingham June 2 after he was arrested in Murphy, N.C., following five years in hiding. He is accused of bombing the New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic. The explosion killed off-duty Birmingham Police Officer Robert "Sande" Sanderson and wounded nurse Emily Lyons.

Rudolph also is charged in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing that killed a woman and injured more than 100 people, as well as the 1997 bombings of an Atlanta gay nightclub and another Atlanta office building.

Rudolph has been portrayed as anti-Semitic, anti-government and at one point a follower of a white supremacist religion.

His defense lawyers said in its Monday statement that their investigation continues to "bear out that there is no connection between Eric Rudolph and extremist organizations."