Accused lookout facing 5 to 20 years in prison

Last updated March 6, 2008 11:21 p.m. PT

By VANESSA HO
P-I REPORTER

TACOMA -- Seven years after the radical Earth Liberation Front firebombed the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture, a federal jury on Thursday convicted the accused lookout, Briana Waters, of two counts of arson.

A former Evergreen State College student, Waters, 32, had been charged with five criminal counts, including conspiracy and use and possession of a destructive device, which could have put her behind bars for at least 35 years.

	Waters

The jury deadlocked on those counts, and Waters now faces five to 20 years in prison.

Afterward, one juror said Waters' 3-year-old daughter weighed on the deliberations, which took four days. A pretty, fresh-faced violin teacher from Oakland, Calif., Waters had repeatedly referred to her daughter, Kalliope, when testifying that she did not help plan the fire and was not at the crime scene.

"It was clearly emotional," said the juror, who declined to give his name. "At the time (of the crime), she didn't have a daughter, but now she does."

Prosecutors said the burning of the research center was part of a six-year arson rampage by regional members of ELF and another group, the Animal Liberation Front. Their fires, which began in 1996, caused $20 million in damage, destroying a Colorado ski resort, sport utility vehicles and genetic engineering labs.

Of the five people charged in the UW fire, Waters was the only person to stand trial. Two defendants pleaded guilty and testified against her for reduced sentences. Another became a fugitive. The fourth killed himself soon after he was arrested.

"We're thrilled at the verdict," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bartlett said. "It holds her accountable for what really is the core of her offense, and it sends a message that every individual involved in this conspiracy will be held accountable and sent to jail."

He said prosecutors will decide within a week whether to retry Waters on the deadlocked counts.

Waters' attorney, Robert Bloom, said there were many issues for an appeal, including what he said was prosecutorial misconduct and the possibility that jurors were tainted by this week's arsons at the Street of Dreams, a luxury home showcase development near Echo Lake. The fires, which destroyed three multimillion-dollar homes, may have been set by environmental extremists.

U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess had previously denied Bloom's misconduct claims and request for a mistrial.

"The tragedy here is that an innocent person has been convicted of a crime she didn't commit," Bloom said after the partial verdict was announced.

In the courtroom, Waters, her mother, and her supporters wept at the verdict. The defendant's partner, Jon Landsgraf, bowed his head above a miniature Hindu shrine he had placed before him in the front row of the gallery.

Before U.S. marshals took Waters into custody, the couple shared a long, sad embrace. A hearing has been scheduled for next week on whether Waters will remain in custody until her sentencing in May.

"Obviously, we're upset and angry at what we feel is an unjust verdict," said Leon Janssen, who befriended Waters during a campaign to save an old-growth forest near Mount Rainier from logging. Waters made a documentary on the effort titled "Watch."

During the 3 1/2-week trial, prosecutors accused Waters of providing a rental car that took the arsonists to the UW in the predawn hours of May 21, 2001, and of acting as the lookout. One witness said Waters hid in some bushes with a two-way radio, using it to warn the group of a passing police car.

The witnesses said Waters had participated in the group's planning sessions, and that the bombs were built by Waters' then-boyfriend in the garage of the Olympia rental house Waters was living in.

Defense attorneys characterized the prosecution's two star witnesses, both of whom have admitted to participating in the UW arson, as liars -- motivated by unresolved tension and promises of reduced sentences. Waters had accused one witness of sleeping with the then-boyfriend and said she had rejected a sexual overture from the other.

The arsonists targeted the research center under the mistaken belief that it contained genetically engineered poplar trees. The blaze annihilated samples of rare and endangered plants and years of research and cost the university $7 million to rebuild the center.

"For us, the fire and the arson and the loss of materials and student research -- that's still in everybody's minds," said Bruce Bare, dean of the UW's College of Forest Resources. He said many at the university were pleased with closure of such a traumatic event.

Bartlett, the prosecutor, said the ELF cell that once ran rampant in the Northwest has been crushed. However, Monday's arsons at the Street of Dreams raised the specter that Bartlett was wrong.

He quickly dismissed that notion, calling the latest arsons -- if done by so-called eco-criminals -- a desperate act.

"It's almost a last-gasp attempt to show they are still a viable terrorist organization, when in fact they are just pathetic," he said.

Civil libertarians said the trial was part of a government tactic to hound environmental activists and brand them "terrorists."

"The government's case was primarily based on character assassination and guilt by association," Ben Rosenfeld of the Civil Liberties Defense Center in Oregon said.

P-I reporter Jennifer Langston contributed to this report, which also includes information from The Associated Press. P-I reporter Vanessa Ho can be reached at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com.

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