The jury is in, and William Cottrell was found guilty on 8 of 9 charges. The 9th charge — which was using a destructive device to commit arson — was the one that, were he to have been convicted of it, would have placed him in the slammer for upwards of 30 years. As it is, each of the other 8 charges carries a sentence of 5 years:
LOS ANGELES -- Jurors on Friday found Caltech graduate student William Cottrell guilty in eight of nine counts in the eco-terrorist attacks on four San Gabriel Valley automobile dealerships.
Cottrell was found not guilty of using a destructive device to commit arson, which had a 35-life sentence possibility.
The other counts carry 5-year terms.
Cottrell admitted to spray-painting Earth Liberation Front slogans on SUVs during the August 2003 spree, but said he was unaware that two people with him, Tyler Johnson and Michie Oe intended to throw Molotov cocktails. The fires did about $2.5 million in damage.
Oe and Johnson are now fugitives.
Cottrell's lawyers attributed his odd behavior in testifying to Asperger's syndrome, a social disorder characterized by inappropriate responses to questions and a tendency to take things too literally.
The defense had hoped to argue that the syndrome made Cottrell an easy dupe and prevented him from extricating himself from the spree after Johnson started setting fires. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gary Klausner ruled the condition is irrelevant.
Well, there you have it. The jury has spoken, and it now remains for us to await his sentencing date of March 12 to learn his fate.
I'm guessing here, but presumably, he could be sentenced to concurrent terms, which would mean his sentence would be for a total of 5 years, and he might be freed after 2 or 3 years. Alternatively, I supposed he could be sentenced to consecutive terms, in which case he might serve upwards of 20 years.
Regardless, Mr. Cottrell has royally screwed up his life. A once promising graduate student at one of the most prestigious universities in the world is now a convicted felon, and will continue his existence as a jailbird for a goodly number of months, if not years.
ELF acolytes got what they wanted: lots of publicity, some torched SUVs, and the symbolism of violent resistence to the evils of a materialistic culture.
I wonder if Mr. Cottrell is happy with his lot, and I wonder if he would recommend to others that they follow in his footsteps and become useful idiots themselves . . .
Stay tuned.
Brian