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Convicted 'eco-terrorist' freed amid evidence dispute
Source: Associated Press
Convicted 'eco-terrorist' freed amid evidence dispute
AP foreign, Friday January 9 2015
By SUDHIN THANAWALA
Associated Press= SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Northern California man described by federal officials as an anarchist and eco-terrorist intent on blowing up government and commercial buildings was set free after nine years in prison when the government conceded that evidence in the case was never turned over to his defense attorney.
U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. in Sacramento ordered Eric Taylor McDavid released from custody Thursday. As part of a deal with prosecutors, McDavid, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to destroy a U.S. Forest Service lab in Placerville, California, and was sentenced to time served.
England expressed exasperation at the government's failure to turn over the evidence, which included emails and a letter from McDavid to an FBI informant that a defense attorney said would have bolstered their argument that he was entrapped and induced by sex.
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McDavid and two co-defendants were initially accused of plotting to bomb or set fire to the Nimbus Dam, the U.S. Forest Service lab and cellphone towers and electric power stations. Authorities said McDavid conducted surveillance at two of the sites and brought materials to make an explosive device.
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AP foreign, Friday January 9 2015
By SUDHIN THANAWALA
Associated Press= SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Northern California man described by federal officials as an anarchist and eco-terrorist intent on blowing up government and commercial buildings was set free after nine years in prison when the government conceded that evidence in the case was never turned over to his defense attorney.
U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. in Sacramento ordered Eric Taylor McDavid released from custody Thursday. As part of a deal with prosecutors, McDavid, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to destroy a U.S. Forest Service lab in Placerville, California, and was sentenced to time served.
England expressed exasperation at the government's failure to turn over the evidence, which included emails and a letter from McDavid to an FBI informant that a defense attorney said would have bolstered their argument that he was entrapped and induced by sex.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
McDavid and two co-defendants were initially accused of plotting to bomb or set fire to the Nimbus Dam, the U.S. Forest Service lab and cellphone towers and electric power stations. Authorities said McDavid conducted surveillance at two of the sites and brought materials to make an explosive device.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/11727191
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