Judge Delays Rudolph Trial Until Next Year

[CShine]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A federal judge on Thursday delayed Eric Rudolph's trial in a deadly abortion clinic bombing from August until next year, ruling his lawyers needed more time to prepare. In a brief order laying out the new schedule for the case, U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith granted the defense's request for more time and tentatively set opening arguments to begin May 24 after jury selection.

"The sheer volume of discovery that still must be organized and assimilated by defense counsel is staggering," Smith wrote.

Defense lawyer Richard Jaffe said he was pleased with the decision. U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who opposed a delay, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Rudolph is charged with setting off a bomb that exploded outside a Birmingham abortion clinic on Jan. 29, 1998. The blast killed a police officer and critically injured a nurse. Rudolph will stand trial later in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic park bombing, in which one woman died and dozens were hurt, and a pair of bombings in the Atlanta area in 1997.

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