U.S. keeps Kaczynski's plea bargain on table

  Gary Fields; Martin Kasindorf

  01/13/1998

  USA Today

  FINAL

  Page 03A

  (Copyright 1998)

  The Justice Department is reluctant to accept a plea bargain in the Unabomber

  case because defendant Theodore Kaczynski hasn't shown remorse and because

  the 18-year bombing spree he's accused of required careful premeditation.

  Prosecutors are considering a defense proposal made Friday, under which

  Kaczynski would accept a sentence of life in prison without parole in exchange

  for the government dropping the death penalty.

  Under the proposal, Kaczynski would be confined in a less harsh setting than the

  maximum security prison normally used for triple murderers, The Sacramento

  Bee reported Monday. He also would retain the right to appeal an earlier court

  decision allowing evidence obtained during a search of his Montana cabin.

  Prosecutors rejected a similar plea proposal last month, but have not made a

  decision on this latest offer.

  Justice Department spokeswoman Leesa Brown said no plea agreement could be

  made until after Kaczynski's competency hearing next week.

  Defense co-counsel Quin Denvir said his client willingly submitted to nearly four

  hours of tests Monday by a federal prison psychiatrist.

  The psychiatrist's sealed report will be filed in Sacramento federal court Friday

  for use in a Jan. 22 hearing to decide whether Kaczynski is mentally competent

  to stand trial.

  Kaczynski, 55, is charged with killing two Sacramento men and injuring

  university professors in New Haven, Conn., and Tiburon, Calif. He must be

  found competent before he can make a plea.

  Kaczynski's behavior, including courtroom feuds with his lawyers and an

  apparent suicide attempt last week, has raised questions about the decision to

  seek the death penalty.

  Justice Department officials say their reluctance to back away from the death

  penalty is based on a number of issues:

  The level of terror created by the 16 incidents dating back to 1978 which killed

  three people and injured 29 others.

  The wishes of the victims and their families.

  And the time, energy and money that went into the $60 million investigation.

  Additionally, the Unabomber caused a near panic among travelers in June 1995

  when he threatened to bomb an airliner in California.

  "They have a man who terrorized the nation," says Laurie Levenson, associate

  dean of Los Angeles' Loyola Law School. "They'd rather fight this to the end

  than send a message that `you can get away with it.' "

  Contributing: Jonathan Lovitt