---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2001 12:54:52 -0800
From: radtimes <resist@best.com>
Subject: New Trial for Hippie Guru Einhorn
New Trial for Hippie Guru Einhorn
<http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/11-15-2001/200111151005868785.html>
Thursday, Nov. 15, 2001
By JOANN LOVIGLIO Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Holding up the United States' end of a bargain with
France, a judge granted a new trial Wednesday for former hippie guru Ira
Einhorn, the one-time fugitive convicted in absentia of murdering his
girlfriend.
Einhorn, 61, was extradited to the United States from France last summer
only after the state of Pennsylvania passed a law allowing him a retrial if
he asked for one.
The former Philadelphian, who has said he was framed for the 1977 murder by
the CIA after he uncovered secret mind-control weapon experiments, was not
in court for the hearing before Judge D. Webster Keough.
Joel Rosen, the lead prosecutor in 1993 who will serve the same role for
Einhorn's retrial, said he was gratified that "we're a step closer to where
we want to be."
Einhorn's longtime attorney, Norris Gelman, said he will no longer
represent Einhorn because of his caseload and because Einhorn is broke.
"He can't afford me. I don't think he can afford anybody," Gelman said,
citing a $907 million wrongful-death judgment against him from his
girlfriend's family.
Einhorn, 61, jumped bail and fled the United States in 1981, shortly before
his trial was set to begin. He was convicted and sentenced to life in
prison for the murder of Holly Maddux, 30. Her mummified remains were found
stuffed in a steamer trunk in the couple's Philadelphia apartment 18 months
after Einhorn said she went to the store and never returned.
Einhorn was captured in 1997 at a converted windmill in the south of France
where he lived with his Swedish-born wife. He had lived in England, Ireland
and Sweden under assumed names before his capture.
In 1998, Pennsylvania passed a law allowing a retrial upon his request. The
unprecedented move was made to satisfy the French government, which refuses
to extradite foreigners based on trials in absentia.
Einhorn vigorously fought his extradition in European courts before finally
being returned in July, ending two decades of flight for the former
anti-war activist, one-time mayoral candidate and self-described "planetary
enzyme."
"We're ready and eager for a new trial. We've been ready for 41/2 years for
this, and actually much longer than that," Maddux's sister Buffy Hall
said. "And when it's over, I intend to never think of Ira Einhorn again,
except when they notify me when he's died in jail."
Michael Chitwood, the detective who discovered Maddux's remains and is now
police chief in Portland, Maine, said: "If I have to hitchhike or walk
back, I'll get back to testify."
Einhorn's attorneys had disputed the constitutionality of the state law
that allowed him to seek a new trial. However, the judge cited "a strong
presumption that acts passed by the Legislature are constitutional."
U.S. officials also had to assure French authorities that Einhorn would not
be eligible for the death penalty at his new trial because there was no
capital punishment in Pennsylvania when Maddux was killed.
Einhorn is in prison in Pennsylvania.
In France, Annika Flodin-Einhorn said she was sure her husband would be
found innocent. "I am both happy and content that he has been given a new
trial," she said.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Nov 16 2001 - 18:46:12 EST