Trial begins for accused lookout in arson at UW horticulture building

TACOMA — The federal trial of an alleged Earth Liberation Front arsonist got under way today, with prosecutors and defense attorneys offering starkly different portraits of the 32-year-old violin teacher accused of helping plan and carry out the May 2001 fire that caused more than $1.5 million in damage to the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture.

U.S. Assistant Attorney Andrew Friedman, in opening statements, said that Briana Waters was part of a five-person team that attacked the building in the mistaken belief that a UW professor was conducting genetic engineering of poplar trees. They built firebombs and in the pre-dawn hours used timing devices and a bucket of fuel to set off a blaze.

"What the defendant and her accomplices did that night was wrong in every way," said Friedman, who described Waters as a lookout who hid in the bushes and watched for police while others set the fire. "... If there was one building in Seattle that helped the environment it was probably the Center for Urban Horticulture."

Defense attorney Robert Bloom said his client has been falsely accused, and portrayed the government's prosecution as a travesty that would wrongly imprison Waters and separate her from a family that includes a 3-year-old daughter.

"Ms. Waters is innocent not because of some technicality," Bloom told a 12-person jury. "But because she was not involved with this group of people in any arson, in any discussion of arson ... that's not what happened."

The trial is expected to take a month. If convicted, Waters could face prison for much of her life. She is charged with arson and using a destructive device in a crime of violence, crimes which carry a combined mandatory sentence of 35 years.

Waters is a former Evergreen State College student who now lives in Oakland, Calif., where she teaches music and plays in a band.

This is the first trial for any of the 18 men and women indicted on charges of involvement in the militant Pacific Northwest underground that between 1996 and 2001 carried out more than a dozen acts of arson and sabotage against targets deemed a threat to the environment or animals. The attacks caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, and targets included a slaughterhouse, timber-company headquarters and a ski lodge at Vail, Colo.

Waters is not alleged to be a leader of the underground cells. But because she has refused to accept a plea deal, she risks a courtroom verdict that could stick her with by far the harshest prison term of anyone sentenced to date.

Twelve other people have reached plea agreements, and, according to court documents, their sentences are expected to range from probation to 13 years. Four others have fled from federal authorities. Bill Rodgers — an alleged ringleader of the attacks — committed suicide after being taken into custody in Arizona in 2005.

Prosecutors say that two other participants in the UW arson — Lacey Phillabaum and Jennifer Kolar — both allege that Waters served as a lookout, carrying a radio to communicate news of a policeman who had passed in the vicinity as the attack was under way.

Prosecutors also told the jury that the FBI took from Kolar a folder filled with newspaper articles about the Earth Liberation Front, including an account of the UW fire.

"Hey girl, take a look at this," said the note that accompanied the folder, along with a heart and the letter B, according to Friedman.

An FBI analysis indicated that a fingerprint on the folder belonged to Waters, according to Friedman.

Bloom, the defense attorney, said the government case was built on informants who have pledged their cooperation in order to receive reduced sentences, with Kolar expected to receive from five to seven years and Phillabaum from three to five.

Bloom, in his opening statement, sought to cast doubt on the reliability of the prosecution witnesses. He said that the evidence will shows that Kolar — in an important initial FBI interview — named herself and four other participants in the arson, but didn't mention Waters. Only later, did Kolar change her story, and say that Waters was a participant.

"What kind of person are they relying on to convict Briana Waters, who had nothing to do with it? Bloom said.