James Charles Kopp
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| FBI FUGITIVE PUBLICITY |
TEN MOST WANTED FUGITIVE |
 James Charles Kopp, 1997 |
|
| Born: | August 2, 1954 Pasadena, California |
|---|---|
| Age: | 52 |
| Crime: | murder |
| Date Added: | June 7, 1999 |
| Date Caught: | March 30, 2001 |
| Number on List: | #455 |
| Captured | |
James Charles Kopp (born in Pasadena, California on August 2, 1954) is an American who was convicted in 2003 for the 1998 murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian, an Amherst, New York physician who legally performed abortions. Prior to his capture, Kopp was on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. On June 7, 1999 he had become the 455th fugitive placed on the list by the FBI. He was affiliated with anti-abortion group "The Lambs of Christ." He is number 25 in Bernard Goldberg's book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America.
Contents |
[edit] Barnett Slepian
On October 23, 1998, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Kopp murdered Dr. Barnett Slepian, who was standing in the kitchen of his home in Amherst, New York. Kopp fired a single gunshot, which entered the Slepian home through a rear window, from a wooded area behind the residence. Dr. Slepian was a well-known obstetrician-gynecologist who performed legal abortions at a women's clinic in Buffalo, New York. He also maintained a private medical practice in an office in Amherst, New York.
[edit] Flight
Kopp fled to Mexico, then to Ireland. He eventually went to live in France under a false identity.
On March 29, 2001, Kopp was arrested by French law enforcement in the French town of Dinan (Brittany), and jailed. The United States requested his extradition and Attorney General John Ashcroft promised that the death penalty would not be sought, handed down or applied, a prerequisite according to the extradition treaty between France and the US, despite the fact that the murder charge Kopp faced was a state charge over which Ashcroft had no jurisdiction and that he did so over the objections of New York State attorney general Eliot Spitzer and Erie County district attorney Frank Clark, both of whom sought the death penalty. The instruction chamber of the Rennes court of appeals ruled in favor of extradition; however, Kopp appealed the ruling.
[edit] Return to the United States
In May 2002, Kopp waived all possible appeals in France and agreed to return to the US, which he did in June.
[edit] Conviction
On March 11, 2003, Kopp surprised observers by waiving his right to a jury trial. Based upon an agreement between the defense and prosecution, Erie County Judge Michael D'Amico would be required to find Kopp guilty or innocent based on a single document of facts. In addition, the judge could not consider lesser charges; he would have to find Kopp guilty or not guilty of second-degree murder. Since Kopp had confessed his role in the shooting to police (claiming that he only meant to wound Slepian) Judge D'Amico found him guilty and sentenced him to the maximum, 25 years to life, on May 9, 2003, telling Kopp "It's clear the act is premeditated; there is no doubt about it. You made an attempt to avoid responsibility for the act. What may appear righteous to you is immoral to someone else" (see [1]). The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, upheld the conviction on July 7, 2006.
As of December, 2006, Kopp is also charged in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on a count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The trial is currently scheduled to begin on January 8, 2007, and could bring an additional life term in prison. Kopp has dismissed his court-assigned attorney, an assistant federal public defender, and is representing himself.
In opening statement to the jury, Kopp said that although Slepian's death was "a full-bore, 100 percent tragedy" it wasn't murder because it was not malicious or premeditated. He did acknowledge he planned the shooting for a year and fired a high-powered rifle with telescopic sights, but he only meant to wound the doctor (to keep him from performing abortions). Pre-meditation, according to Kopp means that you:
- "Shoot them in the head, blow up a car, riddle their body with bullets like they do in the movies. That's how you kill someone"
It is possible that the killing of Slepian was not Kopp's only crime. The FBI notes "(t)he shooting was similar to shootings in Rochester, New York, and three Canadian cities during the fall of 1997, in which abortion doctors were shot in their homes."[2] Kopp has been charged by Canadian authorities in the 1995 shooting of Ontario doctor Hugh Short, one of a string of Remembrance Day shootings (see [3]).
Kopp is currently serving in Niagara County Jail in Lockport, New York.[4][5] Kopp will spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement, locked up 23 hours a day in the nation's most secure prison if he insists on a trial and is convicted. If he pleads guilty, he will be sentenced to a medium-security federal prison.[6]
[edit] Appeal to Federal Court
Kopp has appealed to federal court. Kopp's trial is now underway and Judge Richard Arcara has been selected to preside. Arcara has limited what Kopp can say on the stand and also has prohibited Kopp from showing pictures of aborted fetuses. Furthermore, there is also a limitation to witness' accounts. If found guilty in federal court, Kopp faces a mandatory life sentence. [7] Kopp is accused of violating the Clinic Entrances Act and using a weapon in the murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian. Kopp has chosen to act as his own attorney. On day two of Kopp's federal trial during cross examination, Kopp attempted to have the court reporter of his previous state trial read back statements pertaining to abortion. Judge Arcara and prosecuters protested as he is barred from stating anti-abortion, religious or moral reasoning for his actions. Kopp is attempting to tell the jury why he did what he did because it pertains to the issue of intent. An angered Judge Acara instructed the jury to leave the courtroom and Kopp proceeded to highlight several statements from previous testimony which he wished to enter into evidence to which the judge called irrelevant. A supporter of Kopp's, John Tomasello shouted out "Irrelevant to what, judge?" Tomasello was then thrown out of the courthouse. The trial is expected to last less than three weeks. [8]
[edit] Abettors
Kopp had not been evading justice on his own. He received help from sympathetic anti-abortion activists Loretta Marra and Dennis Malvasi, who accepted a plea bargain on April 15, 2003, and pled guilty to one count of conspiracy in helping Kopp avoid capture. On August 21, 2003, they were sentenced to time served and released.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Court TV complete coverage of James Kopp murder trial
- Sniper: The True Story of James Kopp 42-Chapter Online news series
- Anti-abortion Extremist James Kopp
- James Kopp: A Chronology of Violence
- Kopp Flops in Bid for Martyrdom
- Archive of Kopp's FBI Most Wanted info
- DOJ statement on Kopp Extradition
- http://news.lp.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/kopp/usmalvasimarra101702ord.pdf
- http://www.christiangallery.com/koppdidit.htm
- http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/PressReleases/PR2001/PR200105.asp
- http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2002/June/02_ag_335.htm
- Feminist Daily News stories about Kopp
- Feminist Daily News stories about Marra
- Search Ms. for Kopp
- Kopp's Federal Court Case
