Jail neighbor tells of recalcitrant Kaczynski battling his lawyers

Jonathan T. Lovitt

12/12/1997

USA Today

FINAL

Page 03A

SACRAMENTO -- Theodore Kaczynski's lawyers are having trouble cleaning up

their client and persuading him to go to court, according to a woman who was

held in a cell next to the accused Unabomber in a federal detention center.

Melani Hansen, 25, who was held in the federal lockup here the week of Nov.

21, told reporters she overheard conversations between Kaczynski and his

lawyers in which he balked at attending jury selection. Kaczynski has been

charged with mailing or transporting bombs that killed two men and maimed two

others.

When Kaczynski, 55, refused to leave his cell, his lawyers would "get him up

anyway, (and tell him) that he had to go, period," Hansen said. She also said

Kaczynski whistled nursery rhymes but "didn't talk much, except to his lawyers

to object to whatever they wanted him to do."

Federal records confirm that Hansen was housed in a cell near Kaczynski's.

Her observations seemed to support the picture that is emerging of a recalcitrant

client thwarting the efforts of his lawyers. He has refused to be examined by

government psychiatrists. The same week Hansen observed Kaczynski, he lost

his temper in court and threw his pen across the table, apparently because his

lawyers were discussing his mental state.

Hansen also said Kaczynski's lawyers seemed dismayed by his slovenly morning

appearance. "They asked him to clean up and get dressed," she said. "He didn't

want to, so they kind of cleaned up his beard and everything for him."

Kaczynski spent his time lying on a mattress unavailable in the other cells,

Hansen said. Mike Nelson, chief deputy U.S. marshal, confirmed that he had

furnished the mattress "for his comfort at the request of his lawyers."

Hansen, a baby sitter from Vacaville, Calif., was being held on a federal warrant

for failure to appear in court on a drunken driving charge she received on a

military base.